It all started with a Confession
by bubblefizz001
Summary: "Are you two together, Mikan-chan?" Nonoko asked. All eyes on the table turned on me.Before I got a chance to reply, a voice behind me said, "Yes, we are." By this time, the whole cafeteria was affixed on what was happening in our table.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey, new story! So I know this is just the first chapter so I'm not expecting much but could I expect even just some comments on my writing style. Since I haven't posted a story since like forever so please? **

**Disclaimer: I own Gakuen Alice, not.**

1st Entry:

Ok, I'm clarifying this to you. This is not a DIARY, it's a JOURNAL. Why do I have to clear this for you? Because people make stereotypes that people who own diaries are girly and all and I am NOT girly. And although it may seem like it, I do not have anger management problems. I was just annoyed by some people on my last journal because I started it with dear diary. Guess what? I'm not.

Today is the night before school once again starts. I haven't seen Hotaru in awhile and if I must say, I miss her. Not that I would tell her that face to face. I learned from the countless times I have done that, she always ended up hitting me VERY hard. I swear, she's wearing a steel glove of some sort. That not all. She even has this baka gun which I never found on Ebay.

I'm assuming Sumire will be annoying as she usually is with her fan girl squeal. I can bet in a million bucks that tomorrow she hasn't changed her ways if not, gone worse (if it's possible). Koko and I will have the most fun time mocking her just because we're so _nice._

Ok, gotta go. My mom's rambling about my room's mess. It's an orderly mess if you ask me. Everything's where I can see them but she doesn't get stuff like that. Adults rarely don't.

I'm scheduling a fever tomorrow,

Mikan :)

The alarm clock stopped ringing about an hour ago. I looked at the clock. I knew it! I'd be late. It's like an unspoken tradition. The moment I stepped in the shower, the bus arrived honking like crazy. I came in hair dripping wet with Koko stifling a laugh.

"I know I look horrible."

"Talk about a bad hair day."

"Stop bickering would you?"

We stopped and looked at Sumire. It was weird of her to act this way.

"What's with the scolding?"

"I have to look perfect when Tono passes by, you two are giving me wrinkles." Now that's the Sumire we know.

The bell rang the moment we arrived. I made a run towards my homeroom class along with Koko and Sumire and I swear Sumire was cursing me under her breath. Well I guess it was partly my fault and the fact that the bus didn't speed up.

"Good Morning class! I'm going to be your homeroom teacher this year. You can call me Narumi-sensei." A lot of the class just stared wondering what his gender was. "Okay, this year will be different and in a good way. I expect that we will all learn a valuable lesson like listen to your teacher when he is speaking rather than chat with your seatmate! Time for introductions." 

Unfortunately I wasn't classmates with Hotaru in this subject. It left me bored but my teacher seems interesting and fun though I'm not sure if he/she's a guy or girl. My classmates weren't all that new to me. Some of them were my classmates too when I was in grade school. I looked around to see if I had any close friends. Fortunately, I saw Anna. I waved at her but her seat was a bit far from mine.

The introductions were pretty much boring aside from all the squeals that were heard when it was Natusme's turn to tell. I bet Sumire was one of them. She had a LOT of crushes from different levels. It was annoying for most people but you learn to live with it. Some days, you even think it's too quiet when she's not around. I know it's weird.

Other classes passed pretty fast and before you know it, it's lunch period. I line up and think if my friends saved me a seat or if we still had the same table as last time. I guess I'd have to find out later since it's my turn. Okay, I guess I'll grab a plate of fettuccini and hash brown with some diet coke. I looked around to search their location. Thankfully, I heard Nonoko shout, "Over here Mikan-chan."

I looked to see that our new table was beside our last one which was occupied by some freshmen. Figures. That level always gets dismissed first and that means they get first pick. I sat down beside Hotaru who ignored me as she was very much caught up in eating crab. Do you see why I did not grow normal?

"Hi Hotaru-chan."

"Hey idiot."

"Mou, you're so mean."

"I don't care." And went back to eating.

I chatted with Anna and Nonoko and their schedules and basically I had most of them with Anna which is great. The bell rang a few minutes later and more orientations from people as always. I don't think any of us really expect anything much from the teacher because a lot of us don't really give a damn on who the teacher is if he or she's capable of teaching if he or she's boring then that teacher's boring period. Simple as that.

During departure, as I was walking with Sumire since our bus was still lacking some members, Tono approached me which gave a shock to both Sumire and I. It was a shocker that he even knew my name. I thought he only knew me as girl who is always with Hotaru or girl who I l usually see waiting outside the photography club's room but he didn't because he stopped as he was about to pass by and said,

"Mikan right?" he held out a hand to shake and turned to Sumire to give her a smile. She added him in facebook and he saw it was her birthday on the events column and greeted her not knowing how breathless it left her. They've been chatting every now and then.

"Uh, yeah. You actually know me?" I said incredulously. I just don't know when to shut up, do I?

"Yeah um, you're friends with Hotaru." Oh so maybe he was just here to make a messenger for Hotaru since she freaked him out.

"Yup, that's me. Is there something you wanted me to tell her?" sumire was just staring and smiling so goofily because of the smile he sent her way.

"Um, not really. But I need to talk to you…"he looked at Sumire and thew another smile and said, "privately." He concluded. She muttered a soft bye and skipped away. Wow, that so wasn't obvious. Why did she leave me? I was the best at starting awkward silences. I think I should win an award for it. No matter how noisy I am with my friends. I am very quiet when it comes to people who I'm not all that close with.

"Okay… so what did you want to tell me?" I really had no clue if it had nothing to do with Hota-chan.

"I pretended not to know you all that much when you were with Sumire because she might wonder why I do but truth is, I've been watching you when you drop her off at the club room, wait for us to be dismissed and I know it seems weird considering this is our first conversation but…" he looked into my eyes as I was afraid of what would come next. "I think I like you." Oh my effin' God!

End of Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for all of the reviews! I love you all! And the reward… another chapter and a longer one at that! *bows* thank you so much for you all! This is really an honor.**

**Okay, that was an exaggeration.**

**Irumi Kanzaki: No, Tono is a character in the manga. The fanfic is just set in an AU. :)**

**Saikono-san: Here's me thank you gift and a fanfic cookie.**

**TheHeideePayas: I know right! I just couldn't think of anyone else since they already have a set role so my best friend and I decided that it's possible… in a way :D**

**Dijanexryoma-kun: I updated soon just not that today but I got to confess.. it was ready. I just didn't want the readers to expect the chapters too soon. ;)**

**XxSakura-tearsxX: Thanks for being the very first reviewer. When I get famous, I'll remember to thank you and you'd feel happy that you did me this act of random kindness. :-bd**

Chap 2

Recap

"Okay… so what did you want to tell me?" I really had no clue if it had nothing to do with Hota-chan.

"I pretended not to know you all that much when you were with Sumire because she might wonder why I do but truth is, I've been watching you when you drop her off at the club room, wait for us to be dismissed and I know it seems weird considering this is our first conversation but…" he looked into my eyes as I was afraid of what would come next. "I think I like you." Oh my effin' God!

End of Recap

No WAY! Maybe if I close my eyes and I count to three I'll wake up. Maybe I'm just having first day jitters enough to get a dream 8 hours long. It can't be true. There's nothing in me that I find attractive to a guy like Tono scratch that, to any guy at all. I stared at him wide-eyed. My mind also flashed Sumire's infinite adoration over him. Even if I liked him which I do not, he's cute but not my type, it would be betraying Sumire and I would never do that.

"What?" maybe I just heard wrong. After all, I've filled my ears with loud music and it's probably caused some deafness in me.

"I… like you?" he stared uncertainly. Maybe he decided he doesn't like me which is okay since that means I won't have to reject him since I honestly didn't know how.

"Why?" I just had no clue what to say but I was pretty sure that wasn't the best question to ask. He left me so speechless.

"I don't know myself. It's like one second I'm staring at the teacher and the next one I'm staring into those deep hazel orbs of yours."

"So… what now?" I know that wasn't the best thing to say but he didn't clarify any relationship he wanted to have with me.

"I want to ask if you would want to go out with me." He said sincerely as I tried to avoid his eyes that was staring so intently into mine.

"I'm sorry but I don't like you in that way. And there are other girls who are head over heels in love with you and one of them I know and going out with you would be like betraying her. I'm really really sorry." I said my voice soft and nervous as I was scared to what his reaction might be.

"It's alright. I'd be more surprised if you said yes considering you barely know me." Oh trust me, I so do. Sumire been showing me some of their long chats she saved in her laptop. "And that friend you're talking about, it's Sumire isn't it?" he asked as if already knowing the answer but of course I have to defend her.

"That's for me to know and you to never find out." I said putting a finger to my lips as I was about to skip away but he grabbed my wrist and I was forced to turn around if I didn't want to fall down on my butt and my panty exposed.

"There's just one favor I wanted to ask you."

"Ok, I guess it's the least I can do after what's happened. Just don't let it be about homework and stuff like that because I'm incompetent at those sort of stuff."

"No it has nothing to do with that at all. You see I've been doing a somewhat part-time job just for fun. I've been an amateur photographer at a small magazine."

"Oh, okay. So where do I come in?"

"Well I need a model for the photo shoot and I've already found the guy who's also from here so I was wondering if you could be his partner for the pictorial."

"Sure. Though I'm sure you can find someone better and has more experience."

"But your looks are perfect for the shoot."

"Fine. But when is it? I'm not available this Saturday."

"This Friday would work out just fine, I guess. Just give me your number and I'll call if ever there's a change of plans."

"Ok." I gave him my number and walked back to the bus where everyone was waiting. Sumire was squirming in anticipation. I was scared. Because if one thing's for sure, lying is not one of my expertise since I barely have any aside from falling over and getting teased by my friends in most things I do.

Dear Diary,

This day has been scary and heart threatening at the same time.

I can't believe Tono likes me of all people! I never thought it was even a possibility. Hell, it never even crossed my mind. I mean, I think if I ever did then that would be betraying Sumire. Wow, really. I can't believe I even agreed to this whole charade. I mean really me, model? That's like asking a pig to fly. I don't think I can tell Hotaru considering she sees Tono like every week for more than an hour. I don't think she'll slip ever but she can use it for blackmail for me when the day comes.

Signing off XOXO, Mikan :D

I decided to sit beside Koko knowing he had no clue of what had transpired and even if he did, he same wouldn't be so nosy and bug me about as I'm sure Sumire would. Thankfully, she wasn't able to get near me as the bus was moving at a rocky pace that if you tried to stand up you'd fall back immediately.

The rest of the days passed quickly and thankfully I was always able to change the subject in time before Sumire got all whiny and stuff like that. And before I even came to realize it, Friday came. I have to tell you I got very nervous and was a bit jittery that morning and Nonoko got a bit worried because I almost spilled acid during lab period because I was caught up in it then I remembered and the tube barely stuck to my hand.

My heart was thumping right out of my chest. I had no clue as to what this thing was about. I never modeled before and never planned on doing so. Why did I ever agreed to it anyway? Oh right, out of pure unadulterated guilt. Why?

I finally arrived at the door of the studio and my hand was shaking in anxiety until I finally got enough courage to knock but that didn't happen fast. The door opened and Tono was standing there in a casual loose shirt with a DSLR hanging on his neck. He ushered me in and I was immediately brought to hair and makeup. It was light and the clothes were a bit provocative. It was kind of like the sexy girl uniform up to the pigtails and all while the skirt barely reached past my underwear. Why did I not ask what I'm going to wear?

"Hey are you doing just alright?" I looked behind to see Tono with a guy behind him that I couldn't quite see.

"Yeah. So who am I modeling with?" I asked thinking it was probably the guy behind him that I couldn't really quite get a peek on.

"Let me present to you," he said as he stepped aside and what I saw I couldn't quite comprehend. "Natsume Hyuuga." He stood there in all his hot playboy glory with a teasing smirk on his lips. It was hot in an intimidating kind of way so it was like I wanted to ogle and hit him at the same time it was so annoying.

He lazily held out a hand for me to shake as if he was forced to act all polite and it was quite easy to tell because his eyes held a certain kind of playfulness that seemed that being courteous was not his hobby and that this whole thing was a bit of a bother. Well that makes two of us.

"Pleasure to meet you." He said as I gave my hand out to shake but instead he kissed it which left me speechless for a split second but I didn't want to show any other emotion other than apathy.

"You too but I don't think this is the first time we've met." I mean like duh. What a cool reply Mikan. Ugh, what's my problem?

"Of course not." Tono stared at him impatiently until he stepped away and he cleared his throat.

"Okay, our photo shoot for today will be for an advertisement for watches and the owner of the brand said that the theme of the photo shoot has to be something that will catch the attention of people our age. And what are those?" he stared at us expectantly.

"Summer?" I guessed.

"Could be but that's not the most." I had an idea but I was too scared to actually say

"Sex." Natsume stated simply. He's a playboy, of course it wouldn't bother him as much as I was.

"Exactly." He said as I stared in horror of what was to come. I should've asked.

**A/N: So whatcha think? And to those who thought of the chances of TonoxMikan, sorry. I mean I love him and all just that I love Natsume more. Sorry Tono, me still love you! **

**R&R!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: HEYO!**

**Next chappie! Hopefully it will remain like this, that every Friday I'll get a chance to update! Thanks for all the supportive reviews! I love you! I'm hyper today! Hey if you just feel like it (though you probably won't) if you have this heavy feeling that your crush's best friend seems to like you… a LOT, what would you do? I know you sort of get why I'm asking. Anyway time for review replying!**

**EuPhoRia RoSe**** – hihi, I know right! But she's the main character in that way!**

**katieliciousss**** – here's me update, dahling!**

**devils address**** – thanks for loving it so I love you too! Mwah!**

**lira191**** – thanks for the review!**

**anim3gurl**** – well, here's me thank you! Thanks for the love!**

**Irumi Kanzaki**** – yep, very big trouble! Thanks for reviewing again!**

**Kylee-Cat**** – you'll find out in this chappie what happens, tell me what you think! Yep ,very badasss!**

**Disclaimer: Will I get sent behind bars if I say I do? I want to know what it would be like… I OWN GAKUEN ALICE! Just kidding! My parents would kill me! I do not own Gakuen Alice so officer, NO! PLEASE LET ME GO!**

Chapter 3

Recap

"Okay, our photo shoot for today will be for an advertisement for watches and the owner of the brand said that the theme of the photo shoot has to be something that will catch the attention of people our age. And what are those?" he stared at us expectantly.

"Summer?" I guessed.

"Could be but that's not the most." I had an idea but I was too scared to actually say

"Sex." Natsume stated simply. He's a playboy, of course it wouldn't bother him as much as I was.

"Exactly." He said as I stared in horror of what was to come. I should've asked.

End of Recap

"What?" my eyes practically jumped out of their sockets. "You should've told me beforehand."

"You never asked."

"Why, are you scared?" natsume stared at me ever so teasingly. I so want to kill him right here, right now.

"No, why would I be? It's just a pictorial. I just wanted to be given the heads-up. That's all." I said hoping he'd bought it.

"Yeah right." I was about to retort when we were called to the fake classroom which was going to be used for the shoot. It looked a lot like the one we had at school and it was only now that I noticed what Natsume was wearing which made it hard not to gawk.

He wore a long sleeve polo with 3 buttons undone and a loose tie with matching loose black slacks and Italian leather shoes and of course, his hair was unruffled and going through all directions that he looked the best in. she wasn't able to look in a mirror but she guessed it wasn't on the same level.

"Alright I guess you two know each other and my boy Tono here, already told you what this whole thing is for. If he didn't, I'm still not going to tell you." A balding guy told us that and clapped his hands after which I found out later on was to get to our places.

We were posed on the table with him standing lazily beside the table while I was sitting on the table with one knee raised to up to his waist and one arm hung loosely on his shoulders while his hand was on my waist as we were staring intently at one another that I found it hard to breathe as I could feel his breath on my neck as my head was a bit tilted into his neck.

It was very suffocating in a non-literal way. He tilted a bit nearer into me which made my heart beat even faster.

"You know, I've never dated an outsider before but if that outsider had this kind hot bod then I'd definitely make an exception." Did I mention he was a playboy? He's giving me the hardest time to ignore the fact that he's the one I'm posing with. But there was no way I am giving up or at least going down without a fight.

"Well I'm guessing you're not going to be able to do that if the _outsider _doesn't want to." I said with a smirk as we were directed to another position with me grabbing his tie and his was cornering me on the blackboard and our heads were even closer if that was even possible.

"Oh but she does. It' obvious by the way her breath is quickening when she's near me. And let me tell you, she's _very _near me which makes me notice it all the more. Didn't think I was that dense, did you?" he said as he got nearer and the smirk on those lips of his got bigger. I so want to kill him.

"Yeah right." We did a couple more poses with him teasing me the whole time which annoyed the hell out of me but I didn't want to be called unprofessional by whacking him on the head but I was super on the verge of doing it.

"And that's a wrap people. Thank you for volunteering to be our models as a gift, you can keep the watches you wore today." The director of the shoot told us as he exited the room. At least I did like the watch, unlike some people. Tono approached me a bit later as I was eating from the catered table and thanked me once again I just waved him off as I was enjoying this candy so much. What was it called again? I think it started with an H I guess I'll ask them later.

I was about to wave a taxi with bags in hand when a Bentley stopped in front of me. I removed my shades to get a better look at the person inside and I saw Hyuuga push the window down and motioned a finger towards him. I took a step closer as he pulled me in.

"What the hell was that all about? I'll shout that you're kidnapping me because you are." I was about to shout through the window when he pulled me roughly as I ended up falling on top of him. I knew I must've blushed because in a millisecond his smirk was back on his face. I quickly got off him and sat on the chair grumpily with my arms crossed across my chest.

"Where exactly are you taking me?"

"Home."

"Yours or mine?" I asked a bit fearful of the reply.

"Would you like it to be mine?" he asked as he neared his face to mine. I flicked his forehead. He pulled away.

"You don't even know where I live." I justified. He didn't look like the stalker type.

"Don't I?" he asked as he raised my ID that was hanging onto his wrist.

"Give me that!" I shouted as I struggled to get it out of his long arms but I was unfortunately a bit smaller than him. He told that driver the address as I still resisted to get it out of his filthy hands. We finally arrived at my house as he finally surrendered my beloved ID to me.

I got home as everyone just finished dinner so I just went directly to my room and opened my laptop and chatted with Hotaru as to what happened. She was a woman of few words making side comments here and there but it was mostly I who was talking.

_Yo Journal,_

_Today was all weird, I tell you. I mean Natsume Hyuuga flirted with me hard. Of course I didn't flirt back but I think anything I say or do to him means I am so it's really pressuring. How am I going to face him tomorrow. Mom says I do not have a fever._

_Signing off XOXO, Mikan :-l_

The next day was almost uneventful as I was once again late and all but the thing was that Natsume was staring at me during Homeroom class which was eerie for me and probably fun for him as he watched me fidget underneath his gaze as I tried to ignore it but obviously the guy has strong presence which was so unlucky for me.

At lunch, Anna told me she noticed it too and asked me if we had unresolved business. And we didn't so that was what I told her but she didn't seem to really buy it.

A week has gone and Sumire has completely forgotten of Tono having talked with me which brought much relief to myself. The staring has lessened but the intensity was still the same. I think it's his life goal is to make my life miserable and if that isn't enough, Luna noticed it too. Now she's telling to effin get away from her _man. _I can't imagine them together. I tried and I almost puked.

It's now back to Monday and the subjects have gone harder as they're now seeing those who have the capabilities to handle their stressful teaching. The lunch meal was spring rolls so it was quite okay.

"Mikan, these Geometry homework is killing me so much." Anna said as she tried to start her assignments which was obviously not going great.

"I know right. I looked at it awhile ago and thought of quitting school and just growing up to be a garbage girl no matter how many times you say that nobody can look good in their work outfit." The intercom suddenly buzzed meaning a message was coming.

"_Good afternoon students. A few days ago, I received a letter from the Department of Education. As you all know, a heavy storm has caused a nearby island to be ruined. It was a very nice island with it's wonderful white beaches so before it was usually full but now there's barely any vacationers there. I am telling you this because the letters said that 3 students per school will be sent there so I decided these students should be from high school so I randomly picked a level and I picked the freshmen. Then I had a random selection and ended up with Natsume Hyuuga, Ruka Nogi and… Mikan Sakura. Thank you and have a nice day." _The intercom buzzed again as the speech ended. No way no freaking way is this happening.

I mean I love charity really I do. But why is it with him? I'm completely fine with Ruka he's a nice guy or at least he must be to be able to keep up with that jerk. But Natsume? Really do they want me to kill myself.

Then suddenly I remembered, Natsume was the principal's nephew. Fuck him.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey guys! Here's my awaited update! Thank you for all the kind reviews! I love you!**

**Irumi Kanzaki: He did :D. Here's the update. Thanks for the ever continuous support!**

**anim3gurl: thanks for the review!**

**Proxy soul29: THnks! I love her character too!**

**Kylee-Cat: Thanks for the very awesome review!**

**Iminwonderland: Oh, a Lot of things! :D**

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**MomoneMomo3: Thank you so much**

**Anonomous: Here's what's happening! LOL**

_Recap_

"_Good afternoon students. A few days ago, I received a letter from the Department of Education. As you all know, a heavy storm has caused a nearby island to be ruined. It was a very nice island with it's wonderful white beaches so before it was usually full but now there's barely any vacationers there. I am telling you this because the letters said that 3 students per school will be sent there so I decided these students should be from high school so I randomly picked a level and I picked the freshmen. Then I had a random selection and ended up with Natsume Hyuuga, Ruka Nogi and… Mikan Sakura. Thank you and have a nice day." The intercom buzzed again as the speech ended. No way no freaking way is this happening._

_I mean I love charity really I do. But why is it with him? I'm completely fine with Ruka he's a nice guy or at least he must be to be able to keep up with that jerk. But Natsume? Really do they want me to kill myself._

_Then suddenly I remembered, Natsume was the principal's nephew. Fuck him._

_End of Recap _

"Random my ass." I suddenly said out loud.

"What?" Hotaru asked knowing I was not one for those words but she didn't know what happened between me and Tono and though I usually tell her everything, I am still a bit in disbelief of what happened that afternoon. She'll totally look at Tono from a totally different view and I wouldn't want that at all.

"Nothing."

"Thought you liked charity?" anna asked with a questioning tone.

"I do but I don't like the fact that it's with Hyuuga. He seems like a suspicious guy."

"I'm sure you can handle him Mikan-chan." Anna replied comfortingly. If only they knew how much of a jerk he was. I knew he was persistent.

We continued eating as Hotaru helped us with our homework of course for a certain price. We were forced to buy her a whole box of crab brains later. The rest of the day whizzed by and after buying Hotaru her daily need for crab, I came home and turns out the school already contacted my parents and they were unfortunately excited so I didn't tell them my unwillingness to go since that would probably disappoint them.

I went to my room to pack even if I was leaving the day after tomorrow. I can't believe this is happening. Me, Hyuuga away from civilization for 2 weeks. Are they trying to kill me?

I missed the bus because I slept very late. Then suddenly a Ferrari stopped in front of me. I wondered who the heck it was since I was about to call a taxi but this car blocked the taxi from seeing me. WHY? I had Jinno-sensei for the first subject today. The windows suddenly rolled down and I saw a face I dreaded to see everyday this past week, a smirking Hyuuga.

"Get in."

"And why would I do that?" I'd rather walk to school than ride with him.

"Because class starts in 10 mins. so if you're planning to walk it'll take at least half an hour." Okay, he got me there. I looked skeptically before entering the expensive car.

We arrived about 2 mins. before class started. I was still able to get my books in my locker. The ride was silently awkward but there was no way I was actually talking to him. We arrived in class as Jin-Jin was about to come in. I muttered a super soft thank you as his smirk grew wider. Okay maybe I shouldn't have. I forgot how big his head already is.

As usual class was boring. I asked Hotaru if she wanted anything in the island and boy, wasn't that a bad decision. She gave me like a page of stuff. I told her I'll try to get half of it. Soon enough it was already dismissal.

"Mikan-chan! We'll miss you!" anna and nonoko said hugging me. I sure am going to miss these two.

"Me too! But it's only two weeks. Before you know it I'll be back as if only a day only passed." Or at least that's what I was hoping would happen. Meaning, Hyuuga won't have anything too drastic up his sleeve. Of course hope rarely got me anywhere so I'm crossing my fingers.

We said our final goodbyes as they escorted me up to my house and they helped me pack the few I still left and reminded of stuff I almost forgot which was sun block and an umbrella. I headed for the airport waving at them as their heads got smaller and smaller until they were nowhere in sight. And it's only now I the full wave of what's about to happen hit me, what the hell was I doing?

We finally arrived and the butterflies in my stomach seemed to have no plan of fading. I cannot face Hyuuga like this. He'll mock me and try to hit on me again seeing as I was in one of my vulnerable moments but I won't let him get to me or at least try not to. I knew deep in my that I was very much scared even if others girls would consider themselves very lucky.

There he was standing with that uberly annoying smirk on his face with Ruka clutching a bunny at his side. What a cute bunny but natsume's atmosphere of playboyness was ruining the bunny's cuteness and innocene. That's how corrupt that small brain of his is. I really got to give it to Ruka. He should win nicest person on earth to be able to keep with Natsume Hyuuga and his antics award. Someday, I hope I'd have the honor.

We checked in and I tried my best to ignore Natsume having small talk with Ruka here and there. He really was a nice guy. He loved animals like me, I bet Natsume would kill them given the chance. Actually, I don't think he's that mean I hope. The plane was delayed so we sat there in awkward silence until my tummy let out a hungry growl. I saw Natsume's smirk even through the cover of his bangs.

"Pig." He muttered under his breath. I was just about to hit him when Ruka decided to interrupt our starting argument. Such a nice guy, unworthy for both of us well mostly him.

"You guys want something to eat?" he stared at us hopefully. Poor guy. We gave him our orders as he walked off leaving me with the jerk. Maybe I should've just came along.

"Why does my torment give you pleasure?"

"Who said it did?"

"Well, the fact that you just had to bring me with you knowing how much I dislike you?"

"Maybe I just wanted to spend more time with such a cutie like you." He said teasing me with that annoying signature smirk of his. I hate him.

"Yeah right."

"You interest me the more you resist."

"So if I make a plan to act like a fangirl to annoy you, you'd leave me alone?" she asked with hopeful eyes.

"I might've but since you've told me that you're planning on doing that then I wouldn't fall for it."

"Ugh, stupid me." She muttered.

"Good that you know."

"You're not doing a good job attracting me."

"So you actually want me to?" he asked which caused an almost whack in the head but he was able to grab her wrist before she had a chance to. "Being playful now, are we? Admit that you like me; I promise I'll try not to laugh."

"Whatever. I'm not speaking with you." She said and turned her back to him.

"Suit yourself." he replied just as Ruka came back from the deli.

"Sakura-san, here's your croissant and Natsume, your clubhouse." They took it from him and Ruka was wondering why they weren't bickering.

"The idiot here deemed I'm too good to be spoken to." Natsume replied as if reading his mind.

"I never said that!" she yelled at him which caused people to stare.

"Shut up or we're leaving you here as you're tarnishing our perfect reputations." Natsume told her while dragging her as the speakers just announced that their plane has arrived and is ready for boarding.

"Oi! Stop dragging me with your playboy hands." She yelled once again so he did let go of her and she fell on her butt revealing her polka dot undies to him.

"Ow." She said while rubbing her purplish wrist from Natsume's very tight grip.

"Stand up polka or the plane's going to think you just escaped the mental where you should actually be in right now." He said getting annoyed already.

"Sorry, not my fault someone let me go in my worst position." She said still rubbing her wrists.

They walked and unfortunately, Mikan and Natsume were together while Ruka got separated because there was another guy that was already seated beside Natsume . He had brown hair and lavender eyes which definitely made him look very unique.

They sat in silence until Natsume got bored so he pulled out his iTouch and listened to New Found Glory's "Kiss me". He closed his eyes so he didn't notice what was happening so he didn't care otherwise if he opened his eyes, he might've gotten a lot annoyed.

"Hey, I'm Tom." The guy beside Mikan said.

"Hey, I'm Mikan. So you're part of the volunteers?"

"Yeah. I used to love going to this beach so I want to help restore it, and meet a few friends in the process." He said with a heart-melting smile.

"Oh wow. I've never been here since I'm not able to travel much, I wish I was able to see it before it got ruined."

"It was so serene when I came here because it wasn't still that famous that time. The lighthouse was the best part. You could just stand up there forever and forget everything." His voice sounded so sincere.

"It all sounds so enchanting, it must be such a loss."

They continued talking as Mikan was really having a great time talking with him because he always had fun facts to tell and he was traveler so he told her all the place he's been to and Mikan realized ow limited she'd been in terms of distance from home. She just never had the time to do so.

The food came so Natsume was forced to open his eyes and tightened his grip on his drink when he saw what was happening. The stewardess looked at him with flirtatious eyes and he got to admit that she was hot but suddenly when he looked to Mikan, she looked like trash.

"Is there anything else you would want sir?" she asked while batting her false eyelashes.

"You out of my sight would be nice." He said in a stoic tone. She scowled and continued to the next row.

"That wasn't a very nice thing to say, Natsume." Mikan said with a cute pout that he had to look away. He looked again now with a smirk as he thought of a comeback.

"She looked boring just like that guy beside you." In a tone for their ears only.

"He's nice and can actually talk with me without flirting or embarrassing me."

"That's what makes him boring. By the way polka, cant you be more mature in you choices of underwear?" he said knowing it will cause one of her cute outbursts.

"What?" she said deciphering what he said and the moment she did, "Pervert!" and put crossed her shoulders on her chest. "You looked?"

"When you fell awhile ago, it was for all the world to see." He said, shrugging.

She ignored him once again and talked with Tom again and Natsume just watched "Wanted." In the television in front of him. Finally, they arrived while he was just in between the movie.

They walked down as he chatted with Ruka about the flight. Mikan caught up with them when they were already getting their luggage.

"Why didn't you guys wait for me?" she asked.

"Sorry Sakura-san, Natsume said you didn't want to go with us because you found someone else." Ruka said apologizing.

"Oh, no it's okay. Can you just call me Mikan?" she said with a smile. Ruka almost blushed but Natsume shot him a glare so he kept his mouth shut and just nodded.

They rode a taxi towards one of the hotels that weren't hit much by the storm. They carried their luggage to their room and when they arrived to their room, all of Mikan's bags fell to the floor.

".GOD." this was going to be a long trip.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for all the reviews. I'm sorry I can't reply now because I'm already late of my usual updates so just yeah. But here it is!**

5th Entry:

Recap:

They rode a taxi towards one of the hotels that weren't hit much by the storm. They carried their luggage to their room and when they arrived to their rooms, all of Mikan's bags fell to the floor.

".GOD." this was going to be a long trip.

End of Recap

The room was the worst thing ever slash it will nothing next to decent. And no, it wasn't one of those beautiful ruins, it was compelling in a bad way. She wondered if Natsume and Ruka got the same types as her. She wanted to scream in frustration but she was too speechless to do so. First, they force her into this trip with perverted guy then they give her this type of room? What are they going to do next, bury her alive? It was very possible now looking at the circumstances.

The ceiling looked like it will fall on the room any second. The floor reeked of something she wouldn't want to find out. The door to the bathroom was nonexistent and when she opened the door to the room, it almost fell apart. The bed had holes in it and the pillows and blanket were also invisible. She was too scared but in the end she decided to open the closet and shrieked when two rats came out.

She went out to see if the two had gotten special treatment but she wasn't sure what room they were so she went down the reception hall to ask and there was Natsume shouting at the now very scared female receptionist and Ruka calming him down but he too, looked dismayed. So everyone was given those types of rooms because as the old-fashioned and stinky smelling got down, a lot more students from other schools were fuming.

She couldn't blame them. She was just a bit jet lagged so she didn't have the energy to fight with them but maybe she will, tomorrow. She was about to approach them when-

"Would you all keep it down!" a man who looked like he was in his mid-thirties shouted that silenced the whole room because of it's intensity.

"You are all probably disappointed with what you saw in your rooms today." That would be an understatement. "All the hotels that are more fixed have been taken up by sponsors who will provide the materials you will need for the construction of this island. And to make it up to you we will," they all hoped that they kicked out the people in one the fixed hotels to transfer them there. "provide you with materials to fix your rooms and cleaning materials as the stench of seawater and fish because of the flood is very evident." They were wrong.

They once again yelled complaints. I knew I was used to my loud voice but that made my ears bleed. It was so loud and they were all cussing words that some I don't even want their meanings. I approached the two of them. Ruka sighed heavily while Natsume was obviously in a very bad mood.

"Let's just go." Ruka said as we went back to the smelly elevator.

"This is not working out." I muttered under my breath.

"Obviously." Natsume said.

"Alright, let's not be too negative. While the others are making complaints, we should start working so while they'll be sleeping in their smelly rooms, we'll have a somewhat decent one." I said with conviction. Ruka nodded so Natsume kept quiet.

"Hyuuga, say something!"

"I'm not doing it." He stated apathetically.

"Come on. You actually want to sleep in a room like that?"

"I'm not." He stated again.

"Then where are you are you actually going to sleep?" she asked since she knew she and Ruka were wondering.

"In your room." He said as if it was the most casual thing in the world.

"What? What makes you think I'll let you do that?" Mikan asked as she put her hands on her hips.

"Well, for one you love me secretly so it'll give you hidden happiness. And second, there's no way I'm touching any part of that horrid room of mine."

"I do not love you!" she said and stomped off.

"She so does." He said smirking and walked off with a lollipop in his mouth which everyone wondered where it came from.

Ruka and Mikan fixed their room even if the stench left them with this usual need to puke. She finished the contents of her perfume just to cancel it out even after she already mopped the whole place up, that's how dirty it was. After four hours or so, the room was decent. She asked for pillows and a blanket and immediately threw the bed sheets to the laundry and felt bad for whoever will clean it. She managed to create a curtain located between the room and the bathroom. The floors were scrubbed clean and she asked Ruka for help with the door so it was now stable.

"Done at last!" she felt the great need to just go and lie down the mattress but she knew that she smelled pretty bad and she was dirty so she stripped down and took a shower not noticing that someone entered the room. She came out clad only in a towel and immediately blushed when she saw HIM.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she shrieked.

"You didn't look the door."

"Get out!" she said shooing him.

"Whatever, I'm sleeping here anyway…. At least until the cleaning staff finishes making my room spotless." He said lying down the bed.

"What? How did you convince them?"

"You mean aside from the fact that all of them are mindless fangirls. It's one of the perks of being hot. And with a body like that, I'm sure you could've done it too." He said cornering her to the wall. Her heartbeat was going super fast as she was unsure of his motives. "Too bad you have bad taste when it comes to underwear." He whispered in her ear and went out the door.

"Ugh, what a jerk!" she yelled ignoring the fact that she was blushing a thousand shades of pink and red.

She dressed up in a white tank top that had the logo of Cobra Starship shirt with a denim Capri and black flats with a floral scarf used as a headband. She hurried down and they were already eating dinner and even though the food wasn't exactly mouth watering, with the amount she did, it all looked so delicious to her. She sat between Natsume and Ruka and started digging in. It was all so yummy.

Natsume watched her out of amusement knowing she had the hardest time cleaning the room refusing to actually use her head, rather her logic, if she had any for that matter.

They all finished dinner and went to their respective rooms. Mikan immediately locked the door to prevent Natsume from entering. She went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. She wore a simple blue Yale hoodie and white shorts.

While in there, she took out her journal as it was one of the most private places she could possibly get.

Hey journal, so how's life? Mine's currently gone from bad to worse. Though Natsume isn't making as much moves as possible, he still annoys me to the bones. I am still wondering how Ruka could be best friends with someone like him. Well, I guess Hotaru and I aren't exactly the most alike of people.

Today, he charmed the workers of this place to clean his loft for him while we, the responsible ones, had to pick all these things that were floating in the toilet. Ewww, definitely not my most favorite experience. I met a new friend during our plane ride, his name is Tom. He's superbly into travelling which inspired me to try it more. Natsume didn't seem to like him much but who cares what that jerk thinks right?

Signing off XOXO,

Mikan :D

She brushed her hair and went out only to find Natsume sitting on the bed. She glared angrily.

"YOU? How'd you get in here?" she said pointing her finger at him in annoyance. He just stared back with amusement dancing in his eyes. He pointed the open window.

"I knew I shouldn't have left that open!" she yelled and quickly tried to pull him off the bed.

"Yeah sure. You'll definitely succeed." He replied sarcastically.

"At least sleep on the floor." She persuaded him, obviously failing since NOBODY can make him do that. EVER.

"You've got to be kidding me." He said putting his crossing arms on his chest. He looked like one of those kids who were throwing useless tantrums and it looked sorta cute. Not that Mikan would ever admit that to herself or to anyone for that matter.

Suddenly thunder rumbled, in a ground shaking manner. Mikan squeaked and let out a yelp. She was afraid of thunder. She stood as stiff as a board refusing to let him see her coward over a thunder crashing sound.

Though Natsume was a stoic guy, he definitely noticed and thought to use it to his advantage using it to play nice guy.

"Hey you okay?" he said in a soft tone that almost fooled her.

"Y-you think you c-can fool m-me?" she asked in a shaky voice, "H-have you no p-pride at all?"

For some reason, he felt guilty when she said that knowing that toying with her at her most vulnerable moment was not the best thing anyone can do.

"Alright, you got me. I was trying to do that. I don't why the heck you made me admit to it but… I'm sorry okay. It's just never occurred to me the severity of my actions towards people around me." She was about to tell him that she was amazed at his apology when another thunder crash echoed through the walls and it was louder than the first one.

She went under the bed and was shivering. He was clueless as to what to do as this has never happened before. He decided it was best to comfort her. He put his arms around her but they weren't really touching since Mikan covered herself with the blanket. She was shaking so badly. He went towards his bag and grabbed his iPod and put it on full blast and put it on her ears.

The shaking ceased as relief washed over him and he looked at her and she was asleep and she just looked so adorable sleeping like an angel he couldn't help but caress her face and it felt really warm. He just noticed now but her cheeks were very much flushed. He put her hand on her neck and it was fiery hot. It was common sense; she had fever.

He walked swiftly to the bathroom. Grabbed a bowl and filled it water and went through the cabinet and finally found a towel. He dipped it and went back to her burning body. He squeezed it and softly ran it through her body, he was lucky she was dressed up and windy clothes so he didn't have to change her clothes. He brought out a futon and arranged it so he finally crashed on it and drifted to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm not complaining or anything you know just wanted to point out that in the latest chapter only one reviewed (love you Irumi!) is it because I wasn't able to reply because I came from a sleepover so I was too excited to actually reply so sorry! That's all! :D**

Recap phowzzz (ajejejeje)

He walked swiftly to the bathroom. Grabbed a bowl and filled it water and went through the cabinet and finally found a towel. He dipped it and went back to her burning body. He squeezed it and softly ran it through her body, he was lucky she was dressed up in windy clothes so he didn't have to change her clothes. He brought out a futon and arranged it so he finally crashed on it and drifted to sleep.

End of Recapzzzz

She felt like her head weighed a ton and she didn't have the energy to get up. She reached up and felt a warm towel on her forehead wondering where the hell that came from. She looked down to her left and saw Natsume sleeping soundly curled up like a cat (a/n: so cute!) snoring softly. She decided to get up and the swiftness of it all cause a bad headache and she went back down.

The thud of her fall woke the black cat. He stared at her with half-lidded eyes and got up slowly. The room was quiet as Mikan was having a headache and Natsume was still sleepy. He fixed his sleeping place and approached Mikan after.

"You okay?" he asked scratching his head then yawning.

"What happened?" she was in a way thankful of the silence feeling that loud voices would make her head hurt more.

"You got a fever." He explained then disappearing into the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth.

She tried to remember but it only made her head hurt more so she decided to give it a rest. He came out a few minutes after, all refreshed and stuff. He put his head on her forehead as she just gave him a questioning gaze as she was too exhausted to slap his hand away.

"It's almost gone." He said. She didn't understand.

"What's gone?" she asked. He just gave a grunt and went out the door. This time she slowly got up and was able to make to make it the bathroom in a minute and a half. She also refreshed herself and took a deep breath. She looked in the mirror and felt better. At least she didn't look as bad as she thought she did. There were barely any bags underneath her eyes so it was all good.

She went out and rode the elevator to the 2nd floor where the cafeteria was located. The people were already bustling all around. She looked towards the bulletin board where many were crowding about. She tiptoed and looked. The announcement read:

First day of Charity Work is Today!

Make sure you bring extra shirts and water since it's going to one HOT day.

The bus will arrive at 10:00 to ride you to the houses which were hit by the storm the most.

Thank you for your support

-REO MOURI

She had heard of this name from somewhere, she just couldn't remember. She turned to around to come face to face with Tom, she gave him a smile.

"Hey, didn't see you yesterday once we arrived." He said giving her one of his super charming smiles. A normal girl would've melted in hotness.

"Yeah, I was busy cleaning my room then I got a bit sick afterwards." She said captivatingly smiled back which would met a cold guy's heart.

"Oh, are you okay now?" he asked a bit worriedly.

"Yeah, I guess." She wanted to talk to him more if there wasn't such a strong hand that grabbed her arm and dragged her to the line for food. She looked up to see her favorite playboy… not.

"What was that for?" she asked accusingly.

"You're sick. You need food. Get that through your thick-headed skull little girl."

"whatever." She replied glaring a bit.

She took some fish n' chips and orange juice and paid for it at the counter. They went to their usual place where Ruka was almost finished with his meal. The bus arrived and they formed a line and got in. the trip was quiet as Mikan was in her dazed mood while Natsume was listening to his iPod which blasted Daughtry's September. Ruka was just looking out the window at the ruined scenery.

They finally arrived and they got a bit nervous seeing how much damage was done but with their number it almost seemed achievable so they just kept quiet.

"Good afternoon everyone! Today is your first day to reconstructing the new and very much improved island of Japan. You will be grouped with 4 members each basing on our strength and stability. You will not be grouped by schools because even if this is just a volunteer we want you to know each other so it will all be random."

"Group 1, Ruka Nogi….., Group 2 ….., Group 3, ….. Group 6, Mikan Sakura, Tom Alvarez…..Group 11, Natsume Hyuuga…." He announced the groupings.

They were immediately assigned houses and they quickly went for t. Ruka was grouped with a hippie and two wrestlers so he was a bit weirded out but nonetheless befriended them and they turned out to be okay.

"Mikan, no way!" Tom said seeing her going towards the same house.

"Tom, I can't believe we're groupmates! This is going to be so much fun!" she said jumping twice and then looked around. Turns out, they were partnered with an aspiring stuff toy designer and a very metrosexual guy.

Natsume let out a snarl seeing that Mikan was groupmates with him, he'll get her somehow. He decided to see if there was anyone to pass the time with in his own circle. Unfortunately, he got a fangirl, a guy who thinks he can understand fish and an obese guy. So not what he deserved, he thought.

The day went by quickly as it was filled with Natsume's piercing stares at Mikan who was getting the chills from an unknown source, to her, and Ruka worrying for both of them. The day ended and tom asked her,

"Hey, there's a party going on later. Want to come?" he asked giving her one of his cute smiles. She couldn't help but nod at the sight of it. Natsume saw this and decided to intervene.

"As my date." He said putting his arm around her wais t and she hit his arm from behind so as not to let Tom see. He had heard about the party from that fangirl, begging him to be her date. Yeah, right.

"Okay, see you then." Tom said waving and walked to the bus.

"What'd you do that for?" she asked glaring at him.

"Well, I didn't want you to stare that much at a guy who is so undeserving of you," he said then pulling her in and whispering in her ear, "unlike me."

She blushed thousand shades of red and pink and struggled to get away from him.

"There's the happy couple." Ruka said in a sarcastic tone, a bit annoyed at how long they were making him wait. "Any plan on not getting left by the bus?"

"We'll be right there. My girl here is being so tough." He said and put his arm on her shoulder while she slumped as he walked while she trudged towards the bus.

They finally rode back as the road felt a less rocky than before or maybe it was the fact that she was focused on trying to get him to back off that she never noticed that they arrived a few minutes ago. When she finally managed to get his arm off of her, she looked around to see that they were alone.

"Where did everybody go?" she asked totally clueless.

"Because you were so adept in amusing me, they left about a few moments ago." He said with a sly smirk. She glare at him and stomped out the bus while he calmly followed, with both hands in his pocket.

She arrived in her room and grabbed all his stuff and threw it out the door, still hoping of course that the foyer was clean since he'd probably think of some naughty punishment for that and she had enough Hyuuga encounters for a lifetime.

She took a shower as she felt dirty from all the work and it was only now that she realized how exhausted she was. She got so tired that she hit the bed only wearing lingerie forgetting the fact that dinner was going to be served in awhile and she left her door open.

"Hey Natsume. Where's Mikan?"

"How should I know?" Natsume replied hiding his own wonder to where the idiot was. He was bored and she always gave him something to play and tease with.

They already finished eating dinner and she still hadn't showed that, though he'd never admit it, he was a tad bit worried knowing how much of a pig she was and she wouldn't miss dinner after the work they did. He told Ruka to go ahead of him who already had a clue of what he was going to do and boy, was he amazed. The guy barely knew her or made contact with her a few weeks ago but now, he was all acting concerned try as he might to conceal it.

Natsume glared at the door. She was lucky the floor was clean or else he was going to kill her. He picked his clothes up and went to the door beside her because he bribed some guy to switch with him so he's have more time playing with her. He knocked twice but there was no reply. He wondered if she was still sick so he decided to open a bit alarmed that it wasn't locked.

He opened it and his eyes widened. Nosebleed. Tissue. Right now.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey guys! You actually do read author notes! Thanks a lot! I don't usually and I end up regretting it. Thanks for the reviews! Sorry for updating a day late. I went shopping yesterday since I'm going to a sleepover! Hey, could you guys give suggestions for a gift to a close friend who is a boy? I'm not good for gifts for the other gender, thanks!**

**Irumi Kanzuki- faithful as always :D ~~ she'll freak out I tell you**

**Momonemomo3-thanks! Yeah, there's a lot more of that coming :3**

**Balloon- Thanks for the review!**

**Kylee-cat- don't I always? (wink)**

Recap

Natsume glared at the door. She was lucky the floor was clean or else he was going to kill her. He picked his clothes up and went to the door beside her because he bribed some guy to switch with him so he's have more time playing with her. He knocked twice but there was no reply. He wondered if she was still sick so he decided to open a bit alarmed that it wasn't locked.

He opened it and his eyes widened. Nosebleed. Tissue. Right now.

End of Recap

Oh god, why was she barely wearing anything and once he saw her body barely wearing anything. He wondered if she intended to wear loose stuff because her body had some curves in all the right places. He put his hand on her neck and her temperature seemed just fine. She was probably just exhausted. Stupid girl, had he not been the one who came in, what would be happening to her right now. If it was a girl then she'd probably take a picture then make a scandal about it throughout the trip. And if it was another guy, well, if it was Ruka he'd probably closed the door and had a severe nosebleed.

He was a playboy and though he really wasn't much used to that much skin exposed, he wanted to tease her with these, blackmail and stuff. He sat on her bed and blew on her ear. She giggled and stirred. She looked so cute, what no, he suddenly blushed. He tickled her sided and that woke her up.

"Stop it!" she yelled in between giggles. She looked up to him with a smile that made his heart stop beating for a second. She was so gorgeous naturally. A simple laugh would cause guys to turn and a smile could get them to do a lot of things. She didn't notice how much potential she had of becoming the school's most popular girl.

"I never thought even your bra would be polka-dots. I didn't even know you had anything to put in it but I was so wrong." He whispered leaning into her ear. She suddenly realized and her face turned red in an instant. I mean, who wouldn't? You were caught sleeping by a playboy who's targeting you while you're only wearing lingerie. She could just die of embarrassment.

"Get out!" she said punching his shoulder. "You perv!" she said ready to literally kick him out.

"Oh, but would you really want to do that?"

"Why wouldn't I?" she asked stating the obvious.

"Because I've got a picture of you sleeping so cutely but I doubt you'd want anyone seeing that now would you?" of course, he wasn't mean enough to do that, but he had fun seeing her cute outbursts.

"NO, you didn't?" she shouted reaching for his phone. He put it in his back pocket and lie flat on the bed.

"Come and get it." He replied with a smirk. She tried so hard to turn him around to grab it but he stayed put and couldn't help but chuckle and she stuck her tongue at him. He ran out the door and well if she actually ran out then the purpose would still fail and this time they'd see her in her underwear in action so that was a lot more embarrassing so she let out a huge sigh hoped for the best and went to the closet to grab clothes. She wore a loose black v-neck which was knotted at the back and denim shorts with her always dependable rubber slippers. She walked out the door and madly knocked on his door.

A guy with only a towel covering his body came out and smirked at her.

"So you want me that much? Don't worry I'm not going to refuse, you're too hot to reject." He said in his cocky voice but somehow compared to Natsume, it seemed to be so wannabe. It was like Natsume was the best or the expert at these things. She stepped hard on his foot and while he was cursing in pain, she slammed the door shut which hit his nose… hard.

Where the hell was that guy? if he showed anyone even just a part of that photo, he might as well commit suicide. Then she remembered his personality and grew as white as a sheet. What if he turned it to his phone's wallpaper and told everyone that was how she looked like after…. Oh my effin God? He wouldn't do that right. If you really thought about it, why wouldn't he?

She ran towards Ruka's room which was located 3 floors up and somehow fate hated her as the elevator was broken so she had to take the stairs which was a very tiring task so this time she opened the door without permission. Thank God he was just about to shower so all his clothes were still intact. It seemed most weren't. he looked at her as if asking 'why the heck did you almost break my door?'. She looked at it and it really looked like it was barely hanging by a thread.

She bowed as if to say story and walked swiftly towards him and squeezed both his arms. Now he looked a bit freaked out by her weird antics.

"Where is Natsume?"

"What did he do now?" he asked sighing.

"A lot of things. Now where is that sorry excuse for a guy?" she asked super needing to know.

" In his room most probably." He replied still looking a bit exhilarated as Mikan looked like this calm bubbly girl that did not have a grip of a cobra.

"No, he's not there! Some pervert is staying there so I thought he was staying here!" now where was he really?

"Didn't he tell you? He switched rooms, he's located right beside yours after paying your neighbor a few hundred bucks." She stared at him wide-eyed speechless for about five seconds before it dawned on her.

"You mean I ran 3 flights of stairs which were steep and dirty and he was in my floor right beside my room the whole time?" she stared incredulously. He was almost afraid to nod. In a millisecond, she was gone like the wind rushing down the stairs. Once again, she just opened the door. Yet again was another guy who just came out of showering.

"You!" she yelled pointing her index finger at him in frustration.

"What?" he asked quizzically running a hand to his messy, but still hot, raven hair.

"Delete that picture!" she said almost making his ears bleed. He glared at her but suddenly thought of something and smirked.

"Sure but you have to do me one favor." He said evilly. She was almost afraid to ask.

"What?" she said almost squeaking as she did. Oh my gosh! He was going to take her first kiss or worse! He'd ask for a pair of her underwear. Oh no, he might force her to be his pretend girlfriend. No, she couldn't handle a few seconds cuddling with this jerk. But if it was for the sake of her dignity…. If she'd have anything left after what he was going to make her do…

"Cook for me." He said simply. She stared at him dumbfounded.

"Just that?" she asked thinking there might be a catch.

"I never thought you were capable of thinking naughty." He said nearing her as she felt herself getting backed up in a wall. "But if that's what you want to do, I'm totally up for it." He said nearing his face to her. She flicked her finger at his forehead. He pulled away.

"Never!" she yelled.

"You just have to cook. I thought all girls could cook but I guess you're not normal though I'd feel bad for your future husband who'd never get to taste a home-cooked meal." He said challenging her. She of course fell for it and rushed to the kitchen. He watched television and a few minutes after the smell of something good wafted through his nose. He suddenly felt a bit excited to eat.

She came out I a blue apron that he wondered where the heck she got. Wait that looked like his favorite shirt cut into pieces. No, not his favorite shirt! She was going to die later. He looked down only to see it was an (drumroll please) omelet. Yup, good ol' omelet.

But still she cooked it as she laid it to the table and sat down staring at him intently.

"I can't eat this." He said leaning back smirking at her fuming expression.

"Why not?" she said slamming the table. I guess adrenaline rush can make you do that.

"Omelets are so plain. I thought a sophisticated girl like you could cook better." He replied. He didn't know why but it seemed like teasing her was easier than getting her to fall for his charisma and he felt good when he did and even if he was playing her, he felt like he needed to be delicate with her.

"Why you?" she said wanting to pull both their hair out.

"Well, you could feed me. It could make it taste better." If only she knew that there wasn't a picture, she would've killed herself.

"Why would I do that?" she asked like it was the most impossible thing in the world.

"Because I have something that I could send to the head of the newspaper club back at home which I have in my contacts by the way." He said in a devilish way.

"Fine." She said giving up. That was the worst. There were so many pervs back there who'd be so happy and some were more straight-forward that him with no charisma at all.

She sat beside him and grabbed as much as the spoon could handle of rice and jammed it down his throat that cause him to cough it down almost choking him. Seeing his face in shock mad her laugh so hard she was on the floor laughing her heart out. Even if he hated what she did, this girl was really something. He'd never have thought of any girl, aside from his sister, would ever do that to her.

She had never laughed so hard. She didn't know she was such a sadist. But she did learn one thing, even at the brink of choking he still looked good. Okay, where did that come from? Player was never equal to good. But his teasing, even if it annoyed her a lot, made her happy like there was someone who noticed her enough to insult her as weird as it sounds.

"If you do that again, I am seriously going to send it." He said looking her straight in the eye seriously. She tensed up and decided that having that sent was a thousand times worse than feeding him… properly. She sat up and grabbed a proper amount of omelet and rice and put it in his mouth in a moderate pace.

Oh. Shit. This was officially the best omelet he's tasted. And it showed in his eyes for a millisecond which didn't go unnoticed by Mikan as she was really waiting for a reaction.

"Ha! You like it! Told you I can cook." She said triumphantly. He had to give it to her. It tasted out of this world and that was in a good way.

"Okay you win; it's pretty good." He still had his pride to not tell her it was the best thing he's ever tasted since his mom died and he didn't like talking about his mom. "Because of that, I'll eat the rest on my own you can go now." He said leading her to the door. She felt so relieved and she was in front of the door to her room he said the worst thing she could've heard the whole day; worse than if he sent it;

"By the way, there was never a picture." He said closing the door making sure he locked it.

"Curse you, Natsume Hyuuga!" she shouted in contempt.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hey super sorry for the late update! I had to perform at our school's talent show which left me so restless so I only got to write this now, sorry but be prepared! Love this song.**

**- thanks for the review! Yeah, imagine if that was you! :D**

**Kuroichibineko- Thanks! **

**MomoneMomo3- Thanks for review! **

**IRumi Kanzuki- thanks for the tireless support!**

**Kylee-Cat- Made sure it was but this one's a bit more sappy**

**Stealthy Ninja- That's Natsume for you!**

Recap

"Okay you win; it's pretty good." He still had his pride to not tell her it was the best thing he's ever tasted since his mom died and he didn't like talking about his mom. "Because of that, I'll eat the rest on my own you can go now." He said leading her to the door. She felt so relieved and she was in front of the door to her room he said the worst thing she could've heard the whole day; worse than if he sent it;

"By the way, there was never a picture." He said closing the door making sure he locked it.

"Curse you, Natsume Hyuuga!" she shouted in contempt.

End of recap

She awoke to see the alarm clock had been beeping for about an hour now so she quickly got up and ran to the shower. She got into a pair of dark denim Capri and a tank top with a roxy hoodie and comfy green flats. She ran down to see everyone finishing up, she grabbed a sandwich and sat beside Ruka as she was still mad at Natsume.

"Hey Ruka!" she said.

"Hey Sakura-san." He said smiling back.

"Just call me Mikan."

"Alright, Sa-Mikan." He said getting up to ride the bus. She was just about to follow him when a hand grabbed her wrist. She turned around to see ruby eyes boring into her.

"Stop staring so intently!" she said hitting his chest.

"Why didn't you sit next to me?"

"I didn't see my name beside you!" she retorted.

"Ask a lot of girls. They asked for that seat batting as much of their fake eyelashes as they could but I told them the girl who sat there would hit them if they did."

"Yeah sure." She said disbelievingly.

"Let's go." He put her around over he shoulder and it was too heavy for her to get off. Maybe all those girls he dated were actually just being forced by his heavy shoulder, she doubted it. He made sure to bring her closer when they passed by Tom who smiled at Mikan who of course brought it back as enigmatically. They were like two peas in a pod.

They sat at the back and Ruka sat in the middle because he got in earlier and all other seats were taken. She was still sleepy and all so she accidentally leaned on his shoulder and when he looked to retort a witty remark, she was already snoring soundly. He unintentionally let out a small smile seeing her sleeping so soundly.

They arrived he poked her shoulder, she didn't seem to notice. He suddenly got the idea. He leaned close and blew in her ear. She giggled clueless of what he was doing.

"Stop it!" she said then her senses came back and she hit him.

"What'd you do that for?"

"You were planning something." She said suspiciously.

"You mean wake you up since we're the only ones inside the bus again. I bet you just want to spend more time with me so you're always causing delaying tactics." She was about to hit him again but she composed herself.

"Let's just go already." He was shocked at her impassiveness but of course if didn't show in his face.

"Whatever." They got off and proceeded to their assigned houses.

"It's weird how we all get on the same bus and you two always end up late." Tom said.

"We're a bunch of slackers." She said as an excuse.

"Well, we don't need that around here," he said jokingly. "Hey, there's a thing going on later at the bay, want to come?"

"What's going to happen?"

"Usual, bonfire, marshmallows. Getting to know the people here, that sort of thing."

"Sure, I've barely gotten to know anyone weirdly enough, people say I'm very socially capable."

"Well, I guess you'd make more conversation if you were early. I've met some really cool people duing breakfast and dinner which you weren't for again yesterday."

"Yeah, I'm not used to construction and stuff so I got really exhausted and dozed off." She wasn't really lying, just not telling the whole truth.

"Yeah, it is a bit tiring. At least it's for charity, right?"

"Yeah, exactly." She said smiling. They started work happily and their conversations went great. Meanwhile….

"Natsume-kun, this is so heavy. Can you help me?" she said with a super enigmatic smile that looked bad on her.

"Do it yourself." He said coldly. He picked up on their conversation awhile ago and he had to come to that party, he was convinced that guy was a jerk inside playing with her, at least he was higher when it came to looks.

"But it's impossible for me. But you look so strong," she said almost reaching for his arms but he move aside so she almost fell to the floor, not that he was going to save her if she did.

"Whatever." He said continuing with his work which when looked closely, was somehow emanating a angry aura.

"There's this party later and I wanted to know if you wanted to come with me. We'd look perfect together." She cooed. As much as he was annoyed by her, he needed to go to that party and it was an opportunity to make her jealous and find out once and for all, if she held the least bit of attraction towards him.

"Sure, what time is it?"

"About seven in the evening, by the bay. Omg, I'm so excited!" she squealed which almost made his ears bleed but forced himself some self-control.

"See you later." He said luckily because it was time to get back to the bus.

"I'm already missing you." He walked quickly before she said something more.

He walked in with her already sitting smiling goofily in her seat.

"What's got you so weird today?"

"I'm going to a party later." She said attempting to cover the dreamy tone in her voice but he caught it and he as much as he'd never admit, got envious again.

"With who?" he said failing to notice that he was clutching the seat so hard.

"Tom."

"I'm going too." He said smirking.

"Oh, great. With who?" great, he didn't even know her name.

"The girl I fix the house with. I want to get to know her more." He said trying to make it sound like he liked her.

"Oh yeah, she's," she paused trying to think of a nice thing to say since she seemed quite bitchy. "okay."

He took it as disappointment and leaned on his seat relieved. Why was he feeling so much just because she seemed jealous? If it was some other girl, then she could go away for all he cared but with her it was so much more when they were together. It felt real, something he hasn't felt in a while.

They went to their respective rooms to shower and change into something decent. Mikan opted to were camouflage shorts and a Hurley shirt with jelly slippers as they were only going to the bay and it required some walking to do so. Meanwhile, Natsume wore a plain v-neck shirt with denim shorts and slippers too.

They came with their "dates" just in time. They sat around the bonfire and talked about a lot of things. Most of the people there were really dedicated with these charity; they were one of the handful that did this for the first time though Mikan vowed to herself; would not be her last.

"So, what schools are you from?" they all told of their schools and some were so far that she wondered how far they had to go just to get there.

"Hey, let's play a game. Truth or dare." Natsume's date said, hoping to get at least a kiss on the cheek from Ruka at the very least.

"Yeah, great." A lot of people seemed to think it was fun as it was just for fun. Nobody seemed to be holding a grudge against anybody.

"I'll go first." A girl with short brown hair volunteered. They grabbed a bottle and she spun it, it landed on Ruka.

"Truth or Dare?" she asked.

"Dare?" he said unsurely.

"Okay, I dare you to go around the bonfire dancing to Patron Tequila like a drunk man. Hey, somebody get this on camera!" she shouted, a lot got out even Mikan knowing it would please Hotaru.

He did it blushing so hard and everybody laughed until their stomachs hurt. Natsume stifled a smile and content himself with a chuckle.

A few more people did dares like there was no point in asking anymore. A lot caused bad embarrassment and they were too scared to watch a video. Some were even forced to confess on video to be posted for their viewing only. Finally it landed to Natsume which was spun by a guy.

"Obviously it's a dare so pick a girl in the circle and sing her a song." He said. Natsume thought of which girl he was going to sing to; usually he'd go for the fangirl to get his target jealous but this time he felt like he wanted to take a risk with her so he approached Mikan whose eyes widened as big as the fangirl who expected that she was the one to be dedicated to.

"Hope you like this song." He said smirking then he grabbed the guitar handed to him and started singing.

"Oh her eyes, her eyes  
Make the stars look like they're not shining  
Her hair, her hair  
Falls perfectly without her trying

She's so beautiful  
And I tell her every day

Yeah I know, I know  
When I compliment her  
She wont believe me  
And its so, its so  
Sad to think she don't see what I see

But every time she asks me do I look okay  
I say

When I see your face  
There's not a thing that I would change  
Cause you're amazing  
Just the way you are  
And when you smile,  
The whole world stops and stares for awhile  
Cause girl you're amazing  
Just the way you are

Her nails, her nails  
I could kiss them all day if she'd let me  
Her laugh, her laugh  
She hates but I think its so sexy

She's so beautiful  
And I tell her every day

Oh you know, you know, you know  
I'd never ask you to change  
If perfect is what you're searching for  
Then just stay the same

So don't even bother asking  
If you look okay  
You know I say

When I see your face  
There's not a thing that I would change  
Cause you're amazing  
Just the way you are  
And when you smile,  
The whole world stops and stares for awhile  
Cause girl you're amazing  
Just the way you are

The way you are  
The way you are  
Girl you're amazing  
Just the way you are

When I see your face  
There's not a thing that I would change  
Cause you're amazing  
Just the way you are  
And when you smile,  
The whole world stops and stares for awhile  
Cause girl you're amazing  
Just the way you are"

He sang the last note in a prolonged way as everyone was staring at him gaping like how unfair it was that he already had the looks; now he definitely got the voice.

"So, you like it?" mikan was too stunned to reply. She knew that he was a playboy but in the end she's still a girl and that song was so sweet and heart-melting even if you weren't the one being dedicated it too so she was so speechless and her heart was beating so hard and even if she didn't say anything for that 4 minutes, she was breathless.

"I'll take that as a yes."

There were a couple more dares and Natsume couldn't focus because when he sang that, he felt that he really meant it and when he saw her amazed face he felt really content and his heart almost forgot to stop beating. They finally finished and as she was about to leave with Tom, he approached him.

"Hey, can I take her for awhile?"

"Sure." He replied handing her to him. He left and some awkward silence ensued.

"Um, you were really great and amazing awhile ago" she said not wanting to prolong the silence anymore.

"You think so?" he asked with a playful smirk on his face.

"Yeah, great song."

"I composed it about a year ago but never performed it. I guess it's a crowd-pleaser." He said running his fingers through his hair.

"Very much on the girls." She said smiling.

"So you liked it? You didn't exactly reply awhile ago." He said as they walked along the beach while kicking a stone.

"I loved it, along with everybody else." She said her eyes twinkling.

"Hey."

"What?"

"I'm letting you go." He said surprised at what came out.

"What?"

"I mean, as a target." He answered and it felt good to say that.

"Really?" she said sounding relieved.

"Yup."

"Why?"

"Because I'm starting to feel weird stuff and even if it feels go, it'd mean that it might lead to something that would leave me depressed if you don't feel the same." What the hell was he saying?

"Thanks but one more thing." She said looking him in the eye.

"What?" he only wished it wasn't a goodbye.

"I'm sorry but on the other hand, I don't think I'm just ready for you to let me go." She said giving him a peck on the cheek then ran back to the hotel and left me hanging and blushing. He touched his cheek and let out one of his rare smiles.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Surprise! Gift for all of you! Thanks for all the reviews! I love you guys! Your tireless support leaves me feeling great even with all the homework I have to do that's piling up! I wanted to open up a new part in my author's note! There's going to be a question per chapter and I'll post the best answer in my next chapter. Okay, this week's question is:**

**Describe your life in 10 words or less.**

**Okay, thanks! Please reply!**

**Stealthy Ninja- Thnks for the review!**

**Lalala- THanks! :D**

**XxAoiHoshixX - THis is my update! to make up for not updating last week! **

**xxLovelyRosexx- Thanks!**

**Kylee-Cat- thanks for the tireless support!**

**Kuroichibineko- i know right, but that's what makes it sweet :3**

_Recap_

"_Thanks but one more thing." She said looking him in the eye._

"_What?" he only wished it wasn't a goodbye._

"_I'm sorry but on the other hand, I don't think I'm just ready for you to let me go." She said giving him a peck on the cheek then ran back to the hotel and left me hanging and blushing. He touched his cheek and let out one of his rare smiles._

_End of Recap_

She woke up with a smile on her face. She remembered what happened last night perfectly and her smile really shone through. She felt so tired too but she got up and rushed to the shower which woke her up as the water was freezing cold. She changed loose long-sleeved purple and black off-shoulder shirt and a black skirt with cycling shorts underneath and black chucks.

She grabbed two ponytails and set her hair into two low pigtails. She breathed and ran out the door.

He woke up with one ring of the alarm clock and for the first time, he was nervous as on how to face a girl. Maybe because it wasn't just another girl. She was extraordinary to so many people. He made an oath to himself last night that this time he'll take it slow and he'd really court her. He was very much clueless when it came to these type of things, not that his best friend would be much help, he's probably more empty on this subject than him.

He took a quick bath and dashed down the door even if he felt a bit unsure in doing so.

He arrived to see that Ruka was lining up and caught up with him. He grabbed a sandwich as they sat down and Ruka stared at him intently.

"What's your problem?" he asked as he took a bite.

"What happened between you and Mikan last night?"

"What makes you think something did?" he didn't remember saying anything to him.

"I was supposed to go back to the hotel with you but I saw you already going towards the longer way with her. Now tell me, you didn't cause her to go home." He said, his eyes a bit doubtful of what he just told him.

"Nothing, we just talked. Is there something wrong with talking?" he was about to be interrogated more when Mikan finally arrived food in hand.

"Hey guys, what were you talking about? You had a bit of a tense aura." She said taking a seat beside Ruka, not wanting him to get any ideas.

"Stuff, so you ready to go do some more work?" Ruka said trying to read any tension between the two but there was none, Natsume was just awfully quiet.

"Definitely. Natsume, why are you so quiet?" she too had noticed and she was just hoping she didn't cause any awkwardness between them.

"Nothing, can I talk to you," he said looking at Ruka, "privately?" he added.

"Sure." This got her a bit nervous.

They stood up and returned their trays and went towards the terrace of the hotel as he faced her.

"Listen," she started. "about last night. If it's only going to cause us some awkward silences then it's okay if we just be platonic friends." She said offering.

"No, I'm sorry. I've got to tell you I'm not used to this. If I was then I wouldn't even be telling you this. This is so not me. I've never dated any girl seriously before." He said seriously.

"Is there a chance that it was a guy?" she asked joking, the aura was too serious for her.

"Yeah I'm bisexual. I like Ruka." He said in a stoic voice that it seemed believable.

"Oh my gosh! It always ends up like this. Last time it was a seminarian. What's the problem with me?" she said batting her eyelashes and leans to the bars for a dramatic effect. He chuckled as they went back inside, their eyes saying it all.

They got in the bus and Ruka dying to ask Natsume what happened but he felt relieved that MIkan seemed happy after their talk. He was fidgeting because Mikan was so much different than all those other girls that he dated. If he broke her heart, she'd be so heartbroken as it'll probably be her first relationship.

They got off and before Natsume could go to his house, Natsume grabbed his arm.

"Promise not to break her?"

"Never." He said as Ruka let him go.

Mikan was once again talking so animatedly with her housemates, as she liked to call them. Natsume this time wasn't as disturbed because of the fact that Tom gave her to him meaning, he allowed him to make a move on her so he was one way or another, trustworthy.

Natsume was being clinged on now more than ever by the fangirl who had somehow forced herself to believe that the only reason Natsume dedicated the song to Mikan was to make her jealous. She thought too highly of herself, he observed.

"Look, could you like let go?" he asked. She kept clinging though and it resulted to a nail piercing, barely but still, to his finger, he winced and the girl got so guilty and kept apologizing.

"Hey, if you want to be forgiven then just leave me alone. Even just for our whole stay her, God. Can't you take a single hint?" he asked glaring. The girl scurried away.

He asked permission to rest for awhile which was gladly given along with a band-aid. He walked until he reached an edge of a cliff which sat beside a waterfall that led to a lake that connected to the sea. It was hidden by trees. It looked like one of the few things that remained beautiful in the island. He sat there for a few minutes until he decided to get back and it was already time to go home.

He got in as everybody was already seated. Mikan raised an eyebrow towards him as he sat down. Hr brought his injured hand to her lap. She looked at him worriedly.

"Does it still hurt?"

"It's okay now."

"Promise?" why was everybody forcing him into promises today, not that he'd break them.

"Yeah."

They got off and he excused himself. He asked something from the director of the trip and knocked on her door.

"What?" she asked still in her clothes awhile ago.

"Take a quick shower. I wanted to ask you if you wanted to…" he drifted as the words were just so foreign to him.

"Go out later? As friends?" she suggested. Not exactly what he was going for but nodded and wondered why she looked a bit downcast but decided to ignore it.

"Sure!" she said closing the door as he went to his own to change his clothes.

She changed into a pink pastel shirt with a small ribbon sewn at the bottom and a short tulle skirt with white flats. She decided to put on lip gloss as it made her feel more confident even if she was totally clueless as to what was about to happen.

He changed into a grey shirt while he put a plaid polo over it and rugged jeans and Nike high-tops. He once again asked for her and he thought she looked cute as she got out.

"Do I look okay?"

"You want me to sing the song again?" he said smirking which made her blush a couple of shades of pink.

"Let's go then." He took her wrist as they got out and took her to the bazaars that opened when they found out that there were already some people going back.

"Look!" she said as she tried shades that were shaped as a flower. She looked so funny as he put a rainbow colored wig over him and quickly took a picture which she immediately sent to Hotaru before he could delete it.

"What was that for?" he asked taking the wig off.

"Revenge for the nonexistent wig!" she yelled as she ran knowing he'd tackle her. He decided to walk and they looked around a bit more but most were closing because it was already late. They went into this accessory shop that had the most intricate things. She went over to the bracelets and there was this one that just had a metal chain with a metal plate but what made it look amazing was how the border was delicately but in a very detailed way surrounded by pink gems that were shaped like cherry blossoms. It was very beautiful.

"Hey, can I see this?" Natsume asked for it.

"Wow, it's so pretty!" she cooed.

"You like it?"

"Yup, how much is it?" she asked as she reached for her wallet.

"Do you engrave these stuff?" he asked the person at the counter.

"Yes, would you like to have it engraved."

"Yeah, could you put the letter M in the middle?" he asked.

"Sure, just stay here." He said as he left the room.

"That's so smart though you should've asked how much it was first because I might not be able to afford it."

"Doesn't matter, I'm paying." He said as he got out his wallet.

"No, I don't like people paying for me. If you do, I'm leaving" she said challengingly.

"Fine." He really was letting her pay, he had a plan.

"Great." It arrived and thankfully it was set in a reasonable price so she paid for it.

"Let's go to one more shop."

They went to this shop whose stuff had no prices. It was a variety from clothes to shoes.

"I wonder how much these stuff cost." She said as they all looked like her size and were her type of her clothes. Of course, Natsume knew this that's why they went in there.

"How about you get all the things you like and we'll ask at the counter." He offered.

"But I barely have any money now."

"That's why we'll ask, so you can get at least one within your budget." He reasoned.

"True."

She picked a lot of stuff to make sure that there was at least one that will leave her with some money. Though she didn't notice Natsume gone, doing something.

"How much are these?" she asked.

"Hey." He said reappearing winking at the girl in the counter. This got Mikan a bit envious after thinking that Natsume had changed.

"Okay, I'll punch it to see." She punched everything as Natsume tried distracting her.

"Never knew you got jealous easily." He said teasing her.

"Whatever." She said trying not to let herself be affected, even if the salesgirl was pretty and all.

"Here you go!" the girl said as Mikan faced her with all she picked fit into three paper bags.

"I'm not buying it! I can't afford it all!" she wailed. Oh no, she couldn't get sent to jail, her parents would definitely kill her.

"Oh, you don't have to. He already paid for it with his card. Here you go sir." She chirped handing him his Visa. He grabbed it along with the paper bags.

"What's you do that for?" she said.

"You told me not to pay for the bracelet so I got you a shopping spree instead." He said.

"This all costs so much."

"Not really." He replied.

They ended up in a restaurant as they sat down and ate.

"You didn't have to do that you know." She said since she felt sort of guilty.

"I wanted to." He said as they finished after her waiting for his reply for a few minutes and he did as she was about to give up, he did.

"Why?" she had to ask Ruka if he did this to everyone's he's dated. That would be very expensive.

"Because you deserve all of it and more." He said as he closed the door to his hotel door leaving her there dumbfounded.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: hey guys! I am so sorry! I am not going to be able to reply to your reviews because this laptop is defective and when I transfer it to the one that does have, it doesn't have a writing program. It's annoying I know but thank you for all the reviews. I remember one who was asking something and the fact is, Natsume was the one who went out with Mikan and Ruka was the one who made him promise. By the way, nobody answered last week's question. I'll still post a question.**

**Send in funny quotes, the funnier the better.**

_Recap_

"_You didn't have to do that you know." She said since she felt sort of guilty. _

"_I wanted to." He said as they finished after her waiting for his reply for a few minutes and he did as she was about to give up, he did._

"_Why?" she had to ask Ruka if he did this to everyone's he's dated. That would be very expensive._

"_Because you deserve all of it and more." He said as he closed the door to his hotel door leaving her there dumbfounded._

_End of Recap_

She stared at the ceiling for about an hour now, still not being able to comprehend what had happened. She remembered her vow not to fall for a player since they were all talk but in the end, will leave you heartbroken and their contentment is never filled.

It just couldn't happen. She was starting to like him and if she didn't control herself, she was going to end up falling for the one guy she promised never to.

After a few more minutes of daydreaming, her eyes finally collapsed to her contentment, tomorrow was going to be a long day for both of them.

He woke up to the alarm as he turned it off and got off to take a shower. He had slept so peacefully that night for the first time in a few months. He just felt so rested and content. He remembered all the events that had transpired throughout the week, he was now a bit more confident knowing that she was the type who didn't dwell much as he wore a Hurley shirt, cargo pants and dunks.

He went down and saw her with Ruka looking the same as usual if not a bit more happier as she was wearing a yellow summer dress with white leggings underneath with Converse flats and her hair clipped to the side.

"Hey."

"Hey Natsume." Ruka greeted.

"HI." She said a bit timidly. Natsume was wrong when he said she didn't dwell, she _so _did.

They ate in silence but this time Ruka decided it would be better if she left the two alone. They were a bit too immature and they needed too figure out these things on their own. They rode the bus and Natsume for the first time hated the silence,

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Why the sudden awkwardness?"

"Sorry, my mind's just in the mood for spacing out." She said scratching her head.

"Okay..?" he said as they got off, barely speaking to one another. At least he knew it wasn't just him, for the rest of the day MIkan was a bit more kept and all.

By the end of the day, she finally came to her senses and apologized to everyone. She ate a quick dinner then went back to her room suddenly remembering something. She brought out her notebook and wrote,

Hey, it's been a long time I know but I felt like I needed a release for all the pent up feelings I have without shouting since that will only cause a riot. These past few days have been amazing but I feel that it's somehow for the worst. I promised myself to never fall for someone who's known to be a heartbreaker but here I am anxious to see if he's really changed.

I can't help it. When you have the feeling knowing you changed someone for the better, you'd like the feeling… a lot. It was all his fault! Why did he have to be so charming and know just how to get me. The song he dedicated was just music to anyone's ears, especially if it was dedicated to you. He just left me so nervous and I've been so different today, my mind was all over the place, even Natsume noticed.

What do I do? He's got me, whether I like it or not.

Signing off XOXO, Mikan

She closed it and went out to see Natsume about to knock.

"Hey." She said staring as if the floor were the most interesting thing.

"I wanted to see if you were doing better."

"Sorry, I'm a bit off I know."

"Yeah you were."

"What? You were supposed to say 'Really, I didn't notice. You looked to beautiful for anyone to notice that'" she said jokingly.

"Oh yeah?" he said smirking.

"Just when you could pick up on social cues. I'm so disappointed." She said sarcastically.

"Whatever."

"You want to go in?" she asked to avoid anyone hearing them then spreading one of those wildfire rumors.

"Sure." He stepped inside and saw that she made a few improvements. The white walls now had a border of a two tone of orange and purple. The bed now had polka dot sheets.

"The room is so _you._" He remarked.

"Is that a bad thing?" she asked.

"Not really but I definitely wouldn't want this to be my room, it' too… girly."

"What? You think you're all manly. I'm not girly!"

"Oh yeah, sure." He said.

"Was that sarcasm I just heard?"

" never made it to be." He said smirking once again.

"Hey." She said hitting him in the shoulder.

"That hurt me so bad."

"Good." She said not noticing the sarcasm in his tone.

They sat down in the couch and turned the television on. They remembered that there was no cable but found some dvds underneath the TV.

"What movies are there?" Mikan asked as Natsume was the one who stood up. Knowing that she'd pick the chick flick, he decided not to tell her that there were.

"The Grudge and some boring but bloody action movie." He said.

"Why are there only two?"

"How should I know?" actually these were the only two he'd be okay with watching.

"Um, the boring one?" Nah, he was only fine with the Grudge.

"It doesn't have a cd inside." He stated, pretending to open it.

"Can't we ask for it at the receptionist?" she said a bit desperately which made him notice and made him smirk inwardly.

"That'd be wasting time, let's just watch this one."

"O-okay." She said unsurely. He inserted the disc and sat down beside her. He barely saw her as she covered her whole body with a blanket except for her face and had a pillow at her chest.

"How are you going to watch with all that cover? Wait, don't tell me you 're scared?" he said challenging her with her tone.

"Of course not!" she said justifying herself even if she knew she was lying to herself.

"Then watch, with no cover." He said knowing she wouldn't back down.

"Fine; it's a dare." And he was right.

"Alright, now shut up. It's starting."

The start she was a bit okay but as things were getting scarier, he noticed her hands clutching the sofa and smirked; it wasn't going to be long before she backed down. A few minutes, something popped surprisingly.

"Ah!" she shouted and covered her eyes.

"No cover." He reminded her. She took it off and she looked so stiff but she refused to give up; she wanted to finish the movie with some of her dignity intact; she would've kept more of it if she had just backed out but she was too dense to realize that.

For a few minutes, not much happened so she calmed down a bit then something surprising came out again and this time to both of their surprise, she clung to his arm and buried herself in fright. She didn't notice at first and Natsume was too shocked to speak. He hated the fact that he had gotten much closer with other girls but with her, it felt too much or at least enough to make him stiffen and _almost _blush. He never came close to that.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry but it's your fault for wanting to watch the movie." She stated trying to cover her humiliation and embarrassment.

"You covered again, you lose." He said in a matter of fact voice.

"Fine." She quickly agreed and grabbed the blanket again only realizing now what she should've a long while ago before she did that. She buried herself into the pillow as she was blushing.

The rest of the movie was filled with some screams of her in some parts and Natsume's ears getting deafer per scream she released. The movie finally finished as Mikan stood up to pee to release the fright that had remained in her. He stood up to drink water.

"I'll put the cd back, okay?" she told him.

"Whatever." He replied forgetting one small thing.

"There were non-horror movies?" she shouted as she put it back. He cursed in his mind for letting it escape it in his mind knowing that now, he was good as deaf.

"I didn't notice." He said even if he knew she wouldn't buy it.

"Why didn't tell me there were rom-coms?"

"Because I hate those." He stated.

"I hate you." She told him.

He waited for another rant.

"But thank you." She told him which he was so surprised to hear.

"Why?"

"Because I really needed to scream." She said. "That doesn't mean I liked what you did either." She went to him and flicked her finger to his forehead.

"Ow."

"It was supposed to hurt." She said.

"I'm leaving."

"Good Night!"

He went out rubbing his forehead but let out a semi-smile remembering her actions during the movie. Great, he looked like a fool for smiling at nothing. What was she doing to him?

"The houses were almost finished." Tom stated as they stared in wonder at how fast it happened.

"But that only means, transferring to a farther part of the island and starting from scratch." Their group mate remarked.

"Yeah, but at least we'll help more people." Mikan said optimistically. She was back to her normal self.

"That's right, positive thinking." Tom said.

They were already painting the houses. They looked sturdy enough to last a storm. Natsume's group was also productive because they barely spoke to one another because the girl has been in depressed mode after the dedication of the song to Mikan so they concentrated to what they were doing. They were also painting, each assigned with one side of the house.

Ruka's group was not doing so well. Two of them had gone sick so there were only two of them so they gave it their full effort.

They all went for a lunch break and grabbed the food containers which had sushi. They sat at the long table as Mikan was seated between Natsume and Tom.

"How's your group doing?" Mikan asked.

"Good, we're finishing up." He said. He felt better now that he had his own space, he was fine with silence.

"Great. This is really fun. I don't regret going here at all." She said biting into her California maki.

"Yeah, it's been a fun experience. It's great that we're all within the same age range so we can talk to one another and it's easier to make friends."

"Exactly." Mikan agreed.

The two talked animatedly as Natsume and Ruka conversed a bit more quietly.

"You and Mikan seem to be getting along well…. r_eally well._" Ruka implied.

"Yeah, so?"

"Natsume just…" he paused thinking of the exact term to use. "don't play with her. She's innocent and she's good for you."

"Good for me?"

"Well, you're not playing with that fangirl are you now?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"I don't want you to mess this up. You guys are good for each other."

"I'll try not to."

"I guess that's the best I can hope for."

The break was over and they finished up and Mikan and Natsume's group ended a bit earlier than the others so they helped Ruka's and they ended up in time, thankfully. They got dropped back and Natsume went out for a little while to buy some stuff for his suite. He passed the jewelry shop again and he saw a new arrival sign on the window and it was a matching necklace to the bracelet. He went inside to be met by the man again.

"You're back."

"Yeah, I came for the necklace."

"I'm sorry I still displayed it. Someone already reserved it." He said apologetically. That just wouldn't do.

"I'll pay for it at a higher price." He offered.

"Sorry sir, it's on a first come, first serve basis. This has been on display starting yesterday. If you want, you can bargain it with the one who reserved it. He said he'll be picking it up around this time." Just in time, the door opened.

"Ah, that's him."

Natsume turned around to see Tom.

"You're the buyer?"

"You want the necklace too? For who?"

"Mikan."

"I guess it does fit her well. I was supposed to buy it for her."

"Why?"

"I saw she had the matching bracelet so I thought it would be a perfect goodbye gift."

"Dude, can I have it? I'll pay for it with interest."

"I'm going to tell you this once and hope you don't punch me in the face or do something worse; I like her and I've decided to court her."

Unfortunately, Natsume didn't comply since next thing he knew, Tom had a black eye.


	11. Author's note Pls read!

**A/N: Hey guys! I am so sorry for not updating just that it's test week and all so yeah and I'm experiencing a writer's block so I need you guys to decide! Please vote! Okay these are the choices, if you don't vote I'll close my eyes and choose randomly.**

**Mikan finds out and is infuriated with Natsume**

**Tom and Natsume go back to the hotel injured and everyone will wonder what happened **

**Surprise! **

**That's all! I promise that if I get enough votes for one, I'll start writing immediately.**


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: HEyo! This is my review and unfortunately, the votes are tied so I decide to do something that wasn't in the two choices. Read to find out!**

**By the way, thanks to all those who reviewed. Love you!**

Kylee-Cat

Irumi Kanzaki ~

cj-the-greatest

Watery1997 ◘

unkn0wn

Natsume Powa

Amai Youkaiko ►

crazyanimelover326

XxAoiHoshixX

Recap

"You're the buyer?"

"You want the necklace too? For who?"

"Mikan."

"I guess it does fit her well. I was supposed to buy it for her."

"Why?"

"I saw she had the matching bracelet so I thought it would be a perfect goodbye gift."

"Dude, can I have it? I'll pay for it with interest."

"I'm going to tell you this once and hope you don't punch me in the face or do something worse; I like her and I've decided to court her."

Unfortunately, Natsume didn't comply since next thing he knew, Tom had a black eye.

End of Recap

They ended up outside of the shop.

"Let's not do this. This is Mikan we're talking about." Tom said as he put his hand on his eye in pain. Natsume struggled to stop hitting him again.

"I got to her first man." He said.

"She's just exceedingly nice and charming and more. I'm sorry I couldn't help myself." He couldn't argue with that one. She caused him to stop being a playboy. He leaned on a tree and sighed.

"So what do you propose we do?" he asked rubbing his temples.

"Let the best man win?" Tom offered. Natsume thought, he could still have a chance at this considering they will be getting back a week from now and he knew that long distance relationships were hard to maintain and hopefully Mikan will realize that.

"Fine, let's give it a shot." He held out his hand. "Truce?"

Tom took it with a grin. "Truce, so you want to go back. It's getting late."

"Yeah but you go on ahead. I'm just going to the washroom. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Sure, I'll be going." Natsume watched until Tom completely disappeared from the crowd and entered the shop.

"He decided he didn't want it anymore. I'll be buying it." He handed his credit card as the man swiped it as he put the necklace in the box. He never said that he couldn't buy it, his loss. He put it in his pocket and walked back to the hotel as he knocked on Mikan's door.

"Hey, why are you here this late?" he looked at his watch. It was already 11 pm. Had he been looking around so long?

"Nothing, just wanted to give you this." He grabbed her hand, opened it and placed the plastic and closed it. He shut the door and went to his room. He wondered how she'd react to it.

Mikan on the other hand was left hanging so she did the only thing she could do. She took a peek and was surprised. She slowly brought it out and the light shone against the necklace and reflected directly in her eye.

"Ow!" she yelled. That was some epically fail move. She looked at it for the second time putting it against the light and saw that it was the partner of the bracelet she forced him to not pay for. It was even more beautiful. She always had this thing more for necklaces than bracelets.

She wondered how he found it considering the bracelet hand nothing along with it when they roamed around. She had to thank him for this knowing arguing to pay for it would only cause him to buy her more stuff. She faced the mirror and put it on and it fit perfectly, just a few inches below the collar bone.

She wanted to knock to thank him but it was late so she decided to put it off until morning. She woke up with a big smile on her face.

Ruka was the first one she saw as they rode together in the elevator.

"You look quite happy today, Mikan-san."

"I just feel so hyped up!" she said cheerfully. Ruka just nodded in agreement. It really seemed like so.

They saw Natsume at the same time as he was talking with some people. They grabbed food and Natsume called them towards an empty table. They settled and Natsume's eyes were simply drawn to her neck and he saw it fitting perfectly as he let out a smirk. Mikan got a bit frustrated if he was staring at the necklace or below it so she kicked him under the table.

"Owww!" he yelped. Ruka wondered what was happening, well both of them were.

"What was that for?" Natsume asked.

"Watch where your eyes are going." She said. He understood that she misunderstood.

"I was just admiring that beautiful necklace on your neck. I only seem to have notice you wearing it just today." He remarked smirking.

"Yeah, me too. It really is very pretty Mikan-san." Ruka commented unknowing as to why it was only worn now.

"Thanks." She said looking down knowing Natsume was making her feel that she was special. Good thing Ruka kept the conversation going and before they knew it, they were led to their new stations but the groups were the same which annoyed Natsume.

The first thing Tom noticed was the necklace and he realized his mistake but he had to make sure.

"Hey Mikan." He greeted her.

"Hi Tom."

"Nice necklace, where'd you get it?"

"Someone gave it to me last night. It does look quite pretty, doesn't it?"

"Definitely." Now he was sure, he had to start. She was struggling a bit in carrying the wooden boards.

"Let me help you with that."

"Thanks." They carried it towards the upcoming house.

"Let's take a short break, ne?" mikan said wiping some sweat from her face.

"Sure. Let's sit down." They sat down as the sun was at it's peak.

"It'd be so fun to swim, right?"

"Yeah, I'd really want to but it's so annoying we can't. Do you like swimming?"

"I used to be part of the varsity but I was having a hard time keeping my grades up so now I just do it as a form of stress reliever. What do you like doing?"

"I play soccer. Watched FIFA relentlessly to brush up on my skills; if I actually have any." He added laughing.

They talked a few more until they decided it was time to get back but Mikan didn't notice that a certain someone had been looking for her for about twenty minutes already. Once Natsume saw her, he glared at Tom unknowingly and grabbed Mikan's wrist.

She got him mad. It was a good thing it was time to head back to the hotel or else he might have caused a scene. Meanwhile, Mikan wondered at the cause of Natsume's frustration. She tried to think of anything she did that could have put him off but she barely talked to him while they were working.

That was it! He felt like he was receiving insufficient attention.

"Natsume." She said poking him.

"What?" he asked pissed off.

"You know I was just busy." Natsume thought of what she meant by busy. Did she mean busy talking, busy laughing, busy flirting? That only made it worse.

"Yeah, whatever. I don't care." He said trying to sound apathetic about the whole situation even if he was totally not.

"Then what are so worked up about?" so she noticed. He really didn't know. Just that seeing him with her made stirred up some emotions; he tried covering up the fact that it may be jealousy because he didn't like her that much.

"Nothing. What makes you think I am?" he asked because he wanted to know.

"Common sense?" she said unsurely, wondering if it was alright to be frank.

"I don't think you possess that." He said teasing her.

"That means you don't know me." She said turning away from him. He felt a little guilty but made up his mind to apologize later. Right now, he needed some silence.

They arrived and she hurried to get off but he caught up with her and dragged her to the janitor's closet.

"The janitor's closet, really? Am I supposed to think this as a sweet gesture?" before she could retort more witty thoughts she had about him, he crushed his lips with hers which left her flabbergasted.

They stayed like that for a few more seconds before Natsume pulled away opened the door and took his exit, leaving a confused Mikan whose heart felt like it would burst any second.


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: HI hi hi hi Hi Hi ! I'm hyper today! We won the ecosong fest! My body still hurts but it was worth it! I love you KOMU! Okay, thanks for all the fantastic reviews, it felt so good after all the pain during practice.**

**Cj-the-greatest- I know I love it too! **

**kittycam401****- hey, you should make an account so we can PM. Anyway, I'd love to be an author even if I'm so young and still have to study for school and the distance is a bit far but we'll see :D**

**XxAoiHoshixX****- ikr ****:3**

**amyrules303****- awww, thanks a lot! :v**

**KNmar- You think so? Thank you!**

**Irumi Kanzaki****- yeah it was a bit OOC but let's make it an excuse that hes changing ;)**

**natsumikanluveization697****- thank U! **

**Rough Cotton- Love you for the review!**

**Thank you guys I'm really feeling the love with all your reviews and even those who didn't, even if you just read I really appreciate it! When I looked at the countries reading my story, there were even some I didn't know existed so thank you! **

Recap

"That means you don't know me." She said turning away from him. He felt a little guilty but made up his mind to apologize later. Right now, he needed some silence.

They arrived and she hurried to get off but he caught up with her and dragged her to the janitor's closet.

"The janitor's closet, really? Am I supposed to think this as a sweet gesture?" before she could retort more witty thoughts she had about him, he crushed his lips with hers which left her flabbergasted.

They stayed like that for a few more seconds before Natsume pulled away opened the door and took his exit, leaving a confused Mikan whose heart felt like it would burst any second.

End of Recap

She touched her lips in shock. No, it wasn't her first kiss but her first was ever so meaningless as it was done in a party as a dare with a geek but THAT was amazing. Exhilarating. It left her, breathless, speechless and well, annoyed.

She stomped back to her room trying to calm her heart as she felt like she going to burst any minute. Surely, he only did that to play with her. Why couldn't she believe that? Just because he said so, all players break promises.

She realized that she probably didn't want to because she was starting to fall for him and the last thing she wanted was a broken heart while they were on an island in the same hotel.

Because she was still unsure of his motives, she decided that she'd keep her distance and just act plainly friendly so that he'd think she wasn't feeling much for him.

She lied on her bed but her eyes refused to give way to sleep. She was plainly staring at the ceiling as the night was so still and the nonexistent sound felt calming to her erroneously beating heart. Finally, in a few hours or so, she drooped into a heavy slumber.

He had quickened his pace afraid that he'll hear her anger and frustration towards him as he went down to the vendo machine. He bought juice and sipped as he contemplated on what he just did. He had to be hones, it was more out of impulse but he had to admit, he got pretty jealous when he saw her come back with Tom talking animatedly.

He leaned towards the wall and thought of how Mikan reacted when he left her there hanging with so many questions. He had figured 2 options. If Mikan was nicer than he thought, then she'd act like nothing happened and their friendship will get better. At worse, she was hit so hard that she decided to ignore him even after they got back.

He really hoped that it was the first one and at the worst, somewhere in the middle.

He finally arrived in his room and because of his frustration, he immediately fell asleep hoping for the best. By the time he got down, Mikan was still nowhere to be seen. On second thought, if she got really hit by him she could've decided to go home earlier because she couldn't take the mere thought of looking at that face that stole her might be first kiss.

He didn't know how big his sigh of relief was when he saw her walk into the room even if she looked pretty haggard. Great, he caused her a lot of hours of sleep.

She sat down and he continued staring at her while she was trying hard not to.

"Hey." He said so that he'd be able to range how she took it.

"Hi, morning." She said kindly which she didn't do much unless the person was barely an acquaintance to her. So that was how it was going to be, he thought grimly. Maybe it would've been better if she had just full out ignored him, that way he could start from scratch. But no, she acted like she was just another people she knew that she didn't bother to get close to.

"You look like you lack sleep." He noted but he thought that probably wasn't the best thing to say.

"Yeah, had a bit of insomnia." She said quietly just to answer his question. He sighed inwardly, unsure of how he was going to get her to open up again.

"Um… about last night." He started but now words seemed to be able to finish it.

"Nothing happened." She stared as if to tell him to just forget about it. Problem was, he couldn't and he wouldn't.

"So you chose to just forget it even happened." He muttered.

"You were the one who seemed to want to ignore it more." She replied seemingly calm but inside she was about to burst.

"What made you think that?"

"You left so abruptly that I couldn't really read how you felt." She said almost shouting. Natsume knew she was right because up to now, he still wasn't sure how much he liked her.

"I'm sorry for being so quick with my actions. I just felt really frustrated when I saw something." He still had his pride not to tell her that he felt jealous.

"What did you see?" she asked because he acted really bothered yesterday.

"Something." He mumbled.

"You know I wouldn't be able to understand you if you don't tell me what's been getting you all worked up yesterday!" she yelled at him and was about to walk out again when he finally put down his pride so as not to lose her.

"I was jealous okay? When I saw you guys go somewhere alone and the long time it took for you to come back with the both of you smiling, I just couldn't help but feel angry. I lost control that why last night happened!" he yelled back.

People were now staring at the both of them as Mikan slowly turned back and looked at him and saw the sincerity in his eyes. She walked towards him until they were finally face to face.

"You really mean that?" she asked.

"Yeah." He said scratching his head (ADORABLY) and looking down at the floor. Mikan found him so cute looking all flustered like that because it was a side of him he never really showed.

"So, what do you want me to do?" Mikan asked smiling up at him. He was about to respond when Ruka appeared to ruin the moment.

"Hey guys, heard you two were making a commotion." Well they couldn't really tell him that they fought because Natsume abruptly kissed her last night because he was jealous so they both stared at him and replied at the same time,

"Nothing." Ruka looked at them suspiciously.

"I heard it from outside the cafeteria but it was incoherent so just tell me what it was about."

"We were just fooling around and all." Mikan lied quite awkwardly.

"You're the best liar I've ever met." Natsume noted sarcastically.

"You two are incomprehensible. I'll leave to you both to figure out what it is you exactly want from one another." Ruka huffed giving up as he went ahead of them for the bus. They both just stared at one another.

"He's right. I don't really know what it is we're reaching for." Mikan said.

"After all this, maybe it's not the both of us anymore." Natsume said.

"What the heck do you mean?" she asked cluelessly.

"The only thing I know for sure is this."

Once again, he grabbed her waist as he pulled her close and kissed her. The only difference was there was a whole crowd staring and this time he stayed.


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: YO! Thank you for all the reviews! It's test week but I got to sneak this in because I love you! A lot of drama will happen! **

**Amai Youkaiko****- thanks for the awesomely written review**

**natsumikanluveization697****- here's my reply to your puppy eyes! :3**

**mzscorpio21****- thank you! :D**

**cj-the-greatest****- yep, he likes repeating stuff =))))**

**Kuroichibineko****- yeah :)**

_Recap_

"_He's right. I don't really know what it is we're reaching for." Mikan said._

"_After all this, maybe it's not the both of us anymore." Natsume said._

"_What the heck do you mean?" she asked cluelessly._

"_The only thing I know for sure is this." _

_Once again, he grabbed her waist as he pulled her close and kissed her. The only difference was there was a whole crowd staring and this time he stayed. _

_End of Recap_

She wanted it to last longer because it just felt so right but she had to pull away because there were a dozen of people looking directly and others secretly. She wasn't a fan of attention especially if it was cause by this kind of stuff. She stared at him as he understood why she did that so he just shrugged and took her hand as they walked outside with barely much time left.

"I'm sorry, I don't really like being under the spotlight." She told him shyly.

"It's fine. I understand." He was actually a bit happy since a lot of his ex-girlfriends loved it so to the point of forcing public displays of affection on him just to show him off so this was very new to him but in a good way.

"You do?"

"Yeah, I've had my experiences with these sort of things."

"Oh."

"I wanted to ask you something."

"What?" she asked looking up at him. She was annoyed that he was a tad bit taller than her but she decided it was better than have her be taller.

"I've never actually asked you formally and I guess now would be a good time." He stared at her in the eyes, "Will you go out with me?"

She was flabbergasted and well, truthfully she wasn't sure because they've barely known each other and even though she knew she shouldn't give it much thought, his past was not exactly reassuring.

"Can I think about it?" she asked.

Natsume wasn't sure if he should feel relieved that she didn't say no or annoyed that she didn't say yes. He wondered why she hadn't said yes. He wasn't used to the feeling of waiting for a girl so he just nodded and went ahead into the bus and left her. Again.

Mikan realizes that he somehow tends to repeat a lot of things but she wasn't sure how she felt about that yet and if that was the right thing to say. Now that she thought about it, he never really replied to her question. Oh well, she'll just think about it more. She followed suit to ride it.

Looking around the area, she could positively say they were about fifty-five percent done. She wanted to tell Tom but since they got there he's been a bit sulky and avoided her a bit and she couldn't see why and she hated awkward silences with a friend so she decided to approach him.

"Hey," she said looking at the pavement while kicking the rocks.

"Hey," he said back quietly.

"Umm.." she wasn't sure how to start it so she just went for the direct approach. "Why are you avoiding me?" she asked him earnestly.

"I'm not." He said as if trying to convince himself too.

"Yeah, you are. You haven't spoken voluntarily at all this morning." Mikan told him as her proof.

"Alright maybe I was, a bit." He said finally admitting it wearing a sorry grin on his face.

"You didn't answer why you did that." She replied still unsatisfied.

"Come here." He led her somewhere that they could still be seen but their voices wouldn't be heard, unless they screamed.

"The reason why I was evading you a bit this morning was because these past few days I've started to like you."

"I like you too!" Mikan replied as dense as ever.

"Okay, we probably mean it in different ways. You see Mikan, I like _like _you and you probably just like me as a friend and all."

"Oh." She said in understanding.

"Well, I saw what happened at the cafeteria this morning and if I end up doing more that friendly stuff to you, it might send Natsume some wrong signals and I don't want to be the cause of a quarrel."

"No, it's fine. Natsume's not that protective and he's actually not visibly understanding. I don't want to be with him if I'd have to lose a friend." Mikan said kindly.

"So you want to keep our friendship going? Even if you know I have feeling sfor you?"

"Let's give it a shot!" Mikan said sahe hugged him and he hugged back.

A hug.

Just a hug.

Was a hug.

Is a hug.

He was clenching his fists together convincing himself it was just a hug and nothing more. It wasn't a romantic hug. He saw them talking and watched Mikan's confused expression in the beginning which turned to understanding and sealed with a hug. Why does she get him so worked up over a hug?

She was bad for him. All she's been doing since they met was make him feel all these annoying emotions that he's hasn't felt in a while. Then she goes off and hugs his rival, like that's supposed to help, it actually made it worse.

He took an early leave but they barely had half an hour left anyway so he just headed for town about to do something that was either going to make him or break him.

"Hey Ruka, have you seen Natsume?" Mikan asked as they were already about to board.

"I haven't seen him too so I asked and they said he left half an hour ago saying he had something to do."

"Oh."

"Did he tell you about anything?" Ruka asked since he didn't know what Natsume could be off doing.

"No, I wasn't able to talk to him throughout the day."

"Well then. I guess we'll just be seeing him back at the hotel."

"Yeah."

They arrived only to see Natsume wasn't there yet. Mikan now was indeed intrigued as to where he was. She asked permission to look around town and it was granted. Ruka told her to call him the moment she found him because he also decided to look as they divided the town and he'd also call her when he found him.

They weren't so serious about it thinking he might just be looking around and left because he was bored. At least it also gave them some free time to look around. They also told the receptionist that if ever Natsume came in to tell him to call them.

Mikan just looked at a bunch of streets and was able to buy a pink tankini and a white pair of slippers. The ground was dry as there hasn't been much rain after the storm. It was a relief but it left the island quite hot even during nighttime. She was about to return to the hotel thinking it was getting late and Natsume was a big boy and he could handle himself when she saw a smoothie stand by the shore.

She loved smoothies and was a bit tired herself so she decided to help herself with one. She approached the stand and propped up on one of the red stools. She looked at it's tiki theme and found it really cute, she'd definitely come back her unless their smoothies sucked, that would be really disappointing.

A girl in a Hawaiian outfit approached her and asked,

"Welcome to Smoothie by the Beach! I'm Tanya and I'll be your waiter for today. What smoothie would you like, ma'am?" she said enigmatically.

"Um, what's your specialty?"

"That would be the strawberry mango."

"I'll just have a medium one of that." She said. She waited for about a minute when Tanya decided to make small talk.

"Young love is very aggressive nowadays, isn't it?" she noted while looking towards a couple in the beach. Mikan nodded giggling and she looked towards the two more closely.

They looked familiar. The guy had raven hair and lean muscles and…

Oh. My. Fucking. God.

It was Natsume making our with some random girl quite aggressively as Tanya had put it. They had their hands all over each other and didn't seem to be planning on stopping. She suddenly felt something wet on her sking. She put her hand on her face only to realize she had been crying. She immediately put her hand on her pocket and put the payment for the smoothie on the counter and left.

"Keep the change!" she shouted at the girl as she ran back to the hotel with a broken heart.


	15. Chapter 14

A/N: Hey guys. Sorry I updated late, it was our intrams and I'm tired and all. So sorry to keep you hanging like that. Love you for all those reviews you sent! Thank you also to all who added me to their favorites list. It's an honor!

Amai Youkaiko- thank you for being the first reviewer of the chapter. Hope you keep it up! Yeah, why is love so complicated?

SakuraFossil- yeah, he's such a big fat meanie! XD

Pretty- I know right but of course Natsume's still so annoying for doing that.

natsumikanluveization697- not much happens here. It all leads to what will happen next chapter (evil laugh)

CrimsonLalovee- I don't hate love. It's just so heartbreaking to have the one you love do that. :( thanks for liking the story.

Kylee-Cat- no, she's just used to watching those sort of stuff happen. We should help Mikan with that beating! :D

XxAoiHoshixX- sorry the update is not so soon.

Recap

They looked familiar. The guy had raven hair and lean muscles and…

Oh. My. Fucking. God.

It was Natsume making our with some random girl quite aggressively as Tanya had put it. They had their hands all over each other and didn't seem to be planning on stopping. She suddenly felt something wet on her sking. She put her hand on her face only to realize she had been crying. She immediately put her hand on her pocket and put the payment for the smoothie on the counter and left.

"Keep the change!" she shouted at the girl as she ran back to the hotel with a broken heart.

End of Recap

Mikan's P.O.V.

I ran into nowhere and I tears somehow made it from my face to my cheeks as I felt the hot sensation of it and I probably looked like a mess. Wow, this is why I wasn't sure if saying yes knowing I'd end up with just another recipe for heartbreak, I haven't even said yes yet but already, I feel that way.

I accidentally bumped into someone but I just didn't have the feelings to say sorry but said person grabbed my wrist.

"Are you okay?" wait, that voice sounded familiar.

"Ruka?" I said looking up as the impact made me fall.

"Here let me help you up." He said offering his hand. I took gladly, or as gladly as I could as of the moment.

"Thanks." I said turning around to wipe some tears.

"There's no point in doing that considering I already saw you from afar." Ruka stated. Oh, what a lost cause.

"What?" I could try.

"Why were you crying?" Okay, so now I'm sure.

"No, I wasn't." why am I so defensive right now?

"You can't lie as you're eyes are still a bit red."

"Okay, so I did. What can you do about it?"

"Not much, what do I have to offer?"

"I don't know though I could use some comfort." When I said that I meant some words of support what I didn't expect was when he pulled me in for a hug and that's when I completely and utterly broke down.

In a sidewalk.

With about a lot of people bustling.

With more of them stopping to look.

I got a bit embarrassed so I told him we should talk someplace else. We found a small diner as we sat down and ordered a burger and some fries. The waitress left us finally. I took a bite from my burger as I wasn't in the mood to start the conversation at all.

"What happened?" he said as he took a french fry and ate it.

"Stuff." I said, I couldn't bring myself to say anything else.

"What'd he do?" how'd he know Natsume had anything to do with it?"

"How'd you know it was Natsume?"

"I never said it was." He said with a knowing smirk. It looked weird on him so I just couldn't help but laugh.

"What?" he asked completely confused.

"Never smirk again." She said.

"So what did Natsume do?"

"Fine, you caught me. I saw him making out with some whore-ish looking girl."

"No way."

"I thought you'd be used to this."

"yeah, I just thought he'd gone serious with you."

"Well, you thought wrong." I stated as I took another bite but had the hardest time swallowing.

"Are you sure it was him?" Ruka asked still a bit hesitant to believe it.

"Did you think I wanted to see him kissing another girl?" she said disbelievingly.

"No, it's just. Okay, I'm apologizing on his behalf." He said sincerely.

"Sorry, but that doesn't make me forgive him any more than I did awhile ago."

" I know. Anyway, " he said looking at his watch. "they're probably about to start looking for us since it's getting late. We should go." He said standing up.

"Okay." The walk was quiet but in a calming way because I felt like I needed some silence in my life. We arrived and got into the elevator.

"What floor are you on?" he asked.

"The third."

"I might as well take you there."

"It's your choice."

In the end, I was able to convince him to go on his own and I'll just see him in the morning. I guess he felt that he owe me for what his best friend did. Poor guy, having to go through this a lot of times because of his one heck of a jerk friend.

Once I closed the door, it was like all my feelings just erupted. I went towards the bed and covered myself in blankets as the tears were suddenly deciding to fall again. I hugged my pillow tightly and pressed it to my face. The tears were nonstop as I let out all of my frustrations and wondered why this had to happen to me.

I hated myself for actually getting hurt considering we weren't even together yet. He still had the freedom to go it so I shouldn't go off cursing him because he was a free man. I was about to start wailing when I heard a knock on the door. Knowing Natsume was the only one who knew my room, I screamed,

"Go away!"

"Mikan, it's me." Ruka's voice echoed in my ears.

"Why are you here?" I said as I started getting up and went towards the sink to wash my face.

"I have to give you something."

"Ruka, you shouldn't feel indebted to me. It wasn't your fault." I said as I opened the door and saw him with a bucket of ice cream on his hands. It was cookies n' cream, my favorite. "On second thought, I love it."

"I know girls like to eat sweet stuff when they're upset and ice cream was the only available thing in the cafeteria so I decided to buy it for you." He said giving it to me.

If only he was my type, this was so sweet. By that, I mean both him and the ice cream.

"Thanks so much. Now, I feel like I owe you something. Oh well, if ever you need anything and I'm not around, my spare key is inside the lamp beside the door."

"Okay, I better go. I still have to shower since the search left me all dust and stuff." He explained.

"Yeah, me too. See you tomorrow!" I said as I closed the door, plopped down on the bean bag since it did not have a couch and dug into the ice cream. It tastes so yummy.

After finishing it, I felt a whole lot better so I threw it in the bin, freshened up and changed into my bunny pajamas, cute bunnies. I jumped onto the bed and hugged my pillow as sleep finally came over me.

The next morning… (normal p.o.v.)

Ruka just arrived in the cafeteria only to see he was the first one there among the three of them. He guessed Mikan overslept because she was tired but he wondered what happened to Natsume after what Mikan saw. He made sure to give him a good beating or a long lecture once he came down. He got breakfast and finally Mikan arrived still looking a bit sleepy but not as down as yesterday. He was happy the ice cream helped.

She sat down next to him and muttered a "hi" as they ate breakfast silently. As they got up to give their tray, she faced him and said,

"Thanks again."

"No problem."

Ruka was really annoyed with what Natsume did so he decided to find him and give him a piece of his mind. He went directly to his room because well common sense told him he'd be there and he was. His clothes were all rumpled and his hair was quite a mess but of course, that didn't make him look any worse. (:D)

He shook him as he Natsume groaned loudly. He didn't give up and shook him harder, he only got thrown a pillow to his face. He opened the curtains as the rays of light reflected throughout the room.

"What the hell dude?" he said finally getting up.

"The bus is leaving in ten minutes and you haven't even showered yet!"

"What? Why didn't you wake me up?"

"I'm not your mother who's going to look after you!"

"When'd you get so aggressive?"

"I can't believe you!"

"What the hell did I fucking do?" he said losing patience.

"I thought you changed after her, guess I was wrong. If she can't do it then I doubt there's much hope left for you."

"I'd really appreciate it if you tell me what the hell is going on!"

"She saw you, okay? Making out with that girl. Just don't bother her again. She's been hurt enough."

"S-she saw that?" he said disbelievingly.

"So you don't deny it? I really don't know what to be with you!"

"I didn't mean to. I-it was a complete mistake."

"Whatever. She'll never believe you." Ruka replied as he left for the bus.


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N: Hiya! I love Tumblr :D If you have an account, follow me! I have the same username (****.com****) you'll get to know me more and stuff. That is my current addiction, keeps me up to date. Anyway, sorry for the late chappie. I just went through a sembreak with my cousins migrating so we had all these parties and stuff so yeah. Thanks to the reviews! I love you!**

**XxAoiHoshixX**** – ikr, could you do me a favor and kick him where it hurts :D**

**SakuraFossil**** – Because I say so… jk. Anyway thanks!**

**A- creative username :)) thank you**

**Attavee- Of course I'm continuing it, what gave you the idea I won't? anyways, thanks for the love… send more!**

**natsumikanluveization697**** – this chapter is very eventful… hope you'll like it!**

**Quick Question: (from SakuraFossil, thanks!) why is love so difficult?**

**R&R**

Recap

"I thought you changed after her, guess I was wrong. If she can't do it then I doubt there's much hope left for you."

"I'd really appreciate it if you tell me what the hell is going on!"

"She saw you, okay? Making out with that girl. Just don't bother her again. She's been hurt enough."

"S-she saw that?" he said disbelievingly.

"So you don't deny it? I really don't know what to be with you!"

"I didn't mean to. I-it was a complete mistake."

"Whatever. She'll never believe you." Ruka replied as he left for the bus.

End of Recap

Mikan sat lonely in the bus as Ruka was late and ended up sitting up front barely catching the bus. Natsume was nowhere in sight, not that she was looking, but she inwardly hoped Ruka gave him a black eye as the reason he was absent.

She sighed and Tom heard it and looked at her worriedly. When they got down, he approached her.

"Hey, you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't look that way."

"I just barely got any sleep." It wasn't a complete lie. She felt restless the entire night.

"Oh, well don't stress yourself too much."

"Sure." She said smiling weakly at him. He still felt worried for her but decided not to ask her anymore since it may only make her feel worse.

They built the houses in silence as the day passed very quickly and before she knew it, it was time to go back. She didn't want to face Natsume. She was too afraid she'd break down just from the sight of him so she once again asked permission to go around town. She was granted her request but as she walked around, there smmed to be nothing much pleasing to do so she headed towards the beach and sat as the water made her toes wet.

\

A beautiful sunset was taking place as she stared in awe at the beauty of ht mixture of colors. Suddenly a guy plopped down beside her and she almost shrieked in shock. She was about to tell the guy off when he spoke first,

"Great view, isn't it?" he said as she finally decided to look at him. He looked above average, tall, most likely older than her. He was holding a DSLR in his hands as he was taking pictures of the wondrous sight.

"Yeah." She muttered silently.

"So what brings you to this beautiful island?" he asked as he was finally putting his camera back to its case.

"Volunteer work. You?" she had a guess but she wasn't that sure.

"Part-time photographer, of beaches to be exact." He said smiling at her. He had blue-black hair and seemed lean from the way he sat.

"Oh, that's cool."

"It's not the first time I came here. I go here whenever I need to forget."

"About what?"

"Stuff."

"But what if the one you're trying to forget is actually here?"

"Never happened to me but I guess I'll just try not to let that person get to me."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"But that's not so easy, is it?"

"Definitely not but we all got to try, don't we?"

"That's for sure. Let me guess, guy problems?" he asked but his face already had a knowing smile on it.

"Sort of , how'd you know?"

"It's in your face."

Ruka knew Mikan will be coming back later than usual as she was avoiding Natsume. And she was smart to do that as he decided to go in his room and ignore that jerk. Weirdly enough, when he came in Natsume was sitting on the edge of his bed expectantly as if he'd been waiting for a long time now.

"Dude—" Ruka threw an upper cut to his jaw as he was now holding it in pain. "Where did you learn to punch like that?" he said a bit surprised.

"Places." He replied. "Now what the hell are you doing here?"

"I wanted to go to Mikan first but I doubt she'd listen to me and well, she wasn't there so I decided to wait here for you."

"She asked to look around town today as she didn't want to see you." He said to make him feel guilty and he succeeded greatly.

"I understand but you have to listen to me, I promise you it will be worth your time." He said about to put his hand on Ruka's shoulder but decided otherwise. Ruka looked him in the eye and saw, just because they've been best friends for a really long time,

He sighed, wondering why he put up with it all these years and sat down on the couch. "Fine." He said with still a little bit of suspicion in his voice.

"Okay, yesterday morning I asked Mikan if she wanted to go out with me and she said she'll think about it and you know how I'm not used to that. I assumed it was just an indirect way of saying no so I got frustrated because she gave me feelings that I never felt before. I know that I probably don't deserve her now but just can't ignore it," he paused to look at Ruka and he seemed to be fine with him to go on.

"I decided to lay low and asked to go out and it was granted. I was just circling the place finding something that could calm me down. Unfortunately, I spotted an open bar. I decided to order some beer but they told they had something better. I was too unfocused to protest so I just drank what they gave me. Up to now I'm still clueless as to what that was but it was the strongest drink I've had. It was probably five times stronger than tequila. I only drank two and I already had a hard time thinking. Everything else was hazy afterward. I was able to piece the few bits I could remember and figured this is probably what happened. A girl who had no class saw me tipsy and took advantage of that. She took me to the beach probably because it was a public place to show off. I told her I'm tired so she let me sit and then started making out with me. I was so unaware of what was going on that it felt okay with me so I responded." he said pausing once again, this time to get some air since that was a fairly long speech. Ruka had more doubt now which made him confused but he decided to continue it.

"I have to admit it took a bit of awhile to get my head back but anyway it felt like an hour or so when I finally realized what I'm doing. I pushed the girl away and tried my best to look sober. I found my way back to the hotel and when I came to my room it was already midnight so I dozed immediately into sleep." He said finally finishing.

"Why should I believe that?"

"Because this is the first time I tried to defend my action for a girl." He said and it was true. Before, he didn't care when he was caught cheating even if Ruka got mad.

"Well, I can't really say I believe you but I will if you can actually win her back."

"I need to talk to her." He said looking Ruka in the eye.

"That's not going to be easy. She'd refuse to talk to you tomorrow and her room's most definitely locked." Ruka stated.

"Damn. I need to get a spare key but the receptionist said that she took both." He was very observant so he noticed when Ruka stiffened a bit at what he said. "You know something, don't you?" he said.

"No way, why would she tell me?"

"I never told you she did. Caught you now tell me where the hell it is."

"Maybe I do know where it is but why would I tell you? I'm not that sure I can trust you with such beneficial factors to you? And she'd hate me if I actually gave it to you."

"Come on, I promise you she'd be thankful you did it." He said convincing him.

"I'm really torn as on what to do."

"Fine. If you tell me, I'll try to get Imai to give you those blackmail pictures she'd always had against you since we were kids."

"I don't see how it's possible."

"I have money."

"I have that too."

"She loves playing with you so she won't give it but we're on barely civil terms so I think I can buy it off of her." He justified. It was a pretty good point.

"Okay, but just don't force her to believe you if she doesn't."

"I'll try." He replied with a smirk which made Ruka worry but he couldn't do anything about it now since he already agreed.

"Now where is it?"

Sighing as he scratched his head, "It's in the lamp beside the door."

"Thanks bro."

He dashed off to her room and quickly put his hand on the lamp forgetting it was hot.

"Shit! That hurt!" It looked really stupid of him but at least he got the key only with a burnt finger.

He opened the door slowly (should've knocked first moron!) only to find her already sleeping soundly. What luck did he have. He looked at her peacefully dreaming face and felt the urge to touch it so he did. It was so soft and smooth. She looked happy but he knew she was hurting because of him and that made him feel mad at himself.

Out of nowhere he decided to talk to her sleeping form to say all that he wanted to say but was too embarrassed to tell her out loud. At least when she wakes up, he'd be in a much less rigid manner.

"Hey Mikan. I know it's totally stupid of me to be talking to you while you're asleep but I felt the need to. I know you most likely hate me right now for what I did but yeah, I know it's my fault. Did you know that when I first saw you in that photo shoot, I wanted to make out with you. Now, I still want to do that. But I guess, the urge for it lessened terribly since now I just want your forgiveness."

"I know I'll explain what happened all later but I'm going to give you the really long one now. I'm sorry I got carried away because of your refusal to us going out. I guess you made the right choice and that won't change anytime soon. I got so frustrated that I got myself wasted. I met this barely clothed girl who knew I was drunk and paraded me around the beach. When we finally sat, she kissed me. Because I was so frustrated at you, I responded. That was most likely what you saw. I got back to my senses in awhile and I remembered you and I felt really guilty even if I still didn't know you saw."

"I'm not the type to apologize but I feel I should. I'm sorry for being conceited that I got angry at your decision. It's just that you're different and I really wanted it to work out this time because I feel like a person when I'm with you. I don't feel like an accessory who's being shown off to everybody because you see me a bit more than others. You see me as a jerk which I am but others only see my looks and I'm happy with the fact that someone actually noticed. You'll probably kill me when you wake up and demand how I got in. You can blame Ruka for that." Mikan's body was underneath a blanket so he didn't notice her clenching her fists.

"What I really want to say is, I'm sorry and if you could are nicer than I thought, perhaps you could give me another chance?" He never planned to tell her this when she was awake mainly because it will probably only land him a punch, a very painful one at that.

What unexpected him the most was when she opened her eyes, punched him on the shoulder as he fell to the floor as she sat up from the corner of the bed smirking while looking down at him and said, "Why not?"


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N: Hi! I have to say I'm a bit disappointed with the number of reviews I got. I mean four? In the previous chap, almost nothing happened and I had more reviews then, so yeah. I love all who reviewed! Thank you! **

**SakuraFossil- Yeah, tsk, tsk, tsk, when did he get so unobservant?**

**natsumikanluverization697**** – I updated earlier than last time… at least. :D**

**Lilly- In two days, well actually they're in Japan just not in Tokyo :3**

**XxAoiHoshixX**** – LMAO! Yeah I totally forgot! **

** Poor Natsume, getting hit just when he was changing**

** I can't believe you! :))**

Recap

"What I really want to say is, I'm sorry and if you could are nicer than I thought, perhaps you could give me another chance?" He never planned to tell her this when she was awake mainly because it will probably only land hi m a punch, a very painful one at that.

What unexpected him the most was when she opened her eyes, punched him on the shoulder as he fell to the floor as she sat up from the corner of the bed smirking while looking down at him and said, "Why not?"

End of Recap

He woke up with a miniscule smile on his face. He just couldn't believe it. Okay, so he'd have to court her all over again, it was fine considering he thought she wouldn't even forgive him. Why the hell was he thinking like this? He was whipped but he was fine with it. The girl was worth all of it and more. He took a shower as Mikan greeted in the cafeteria.

He ate in satisfaction and Ruka seemed to see that Mikan had forgiven me so he was smiling too.

"How'd you sleep?"

"I had the easiest time considering my body heart from a punch." He said glancing at Mikan that had a seemingly innocent smile on her face.

"That must have hurt." She even said as if she was empathetic.

"Yeah, it definitely did."

They ate and spoke in a light-hearted manner. The conversation was of random topics that couldn't possibly start a fight. They arrived and as they were getting off the bus, Mikan felt something being slipped into her hand. She looked at it and was a piece of crumpled paper. She opened it and a note was written that had 'Meet me at lunch under the palm tree' again and again. It came with a lollipop charm that was a keychain. It looked so cute so she just put the note and the charm on the pocket of her J. Crew white mini.

She greeted her group mates with much more enthusiasm than yesterday which made Tom relieved.

"You okay already?"

"Yeah, thanks for the concern." She said with one of her sweet smiles that made him blush. They worked faster as the happiness radiating from her made everyone more determined.

They finished early and the head requested their help with the other groups that weren't finished up so she decided to help Ruka.

"Hey." She greeted him beaming.

"Thought you'd be helping Natsume." He responded a bit confused.

"I just wanted to thank you because well we're not together but I got to understand. It's stupid I know but yeah." She said earnestly.

"It was for the best." He said.

They worked in a quick pace and then it was already time for lunch so she headed for the palm tree where Natsume was already sitting playing with a rock. He saw her walking towards him so he patted the empty space beside him as he motioned her to sit. She sat down as she smiled.

"So what did you call me for?"

"Nothing." He said nonchalantly. She glared at him at she punched his shoulder.

"What?" she whined.

"Fine, I made this the night before so it's a bit cold." He brought out a basket and took out of it 2 containers which he opened to reveal pasta and juice with garlic bread. He gave me one of each. I took a bite and it tasted great, I bet if it was still warm it would taste like heaven but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"How does it taste like?" he asked trying to appear like it didn't matter much to him.

"Good," she said then adding, "for an amateur." She said as she teased him.

"So you think you can do better?" he asked daringly.

"Oh, I _know _I can do better." She replied knowingly.

"We'll see about that. Tomorrow, you make lunch." He dared her.

"Who said there will be a tomorrow?" she asked.

"I did." He stated cockily.

She hit him again, this time on the chest. He feigned pain as he looked at her, "You're inwardly a sadist, aren't you?"

"I never thought you'd find out." She spoke jokingly.

They chat with each other about stuff as they tried to get to know each other more, the other one clueless of the other one's purpose. She found out that he had lived in Tokyo for most of his life while she was a transferee just a few years ago. He found out that she loved dogs but her mom was allergic to them so she didn't have one. Before they knew it, the day was over as she switched to Natsume's group after the break.

The hotel was packed that day because a plane of tourists booked all the rooms left because of the cheap price. The tourists were a bit flustered at the dust but they decided to ignore it since they spent the day at the beach. The cafeteria line was a bit long that day so it was a good thing that Ruka line up early so they just pitched their orders to him.

"It was a nice day." Mikan concluded as her eyes gave out on her as she fell asleep. She woke up to the scent of grilling. She opened her eyes as she saw a figure out in her terrace. She opened the sliding door and found Natsume grilling kebabs. She couldn't help but smile.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she walked behind him. He turned around as he grabbed the brush behind her.

"Ah, you're finally awake. I think you know what I'm doing."

"I thought I was going to be the one to cook this time."

"Yeah, so I sneaked in to check your progress and you seemed to have forgotten and I don't want to go hungry later so I decided to cook, meaning, you'll be cooking for our remaining two days here."

"Oh right, I can't believe we're already leaving in two days. Well, a lot of things happened. I guess it was a really nice trip to embark into.

"Definitely." He said smirking as he turned them over.

"Well this will be done in ten minutes or so, can you go down earlier and buy our breakfast already because if we wait a bit later the other guests will be waking up and it will be very packed." He explained

"Oh, sure. Well, see you downstairs." She waved as she closed the door to go down.

He went down a couple of minutes later holding the same basket as yesterday. He sat down as he ate breakfast quickly because they were about to go to the bus already. When they were all outside waiting for it, the organizer spoke up,

"Hey guys, how you doing?" a few whoops and grunts were heard, "Okay so it's been one hell of a break wasn't it? We would like to thank all of you for your untiring help. I know all of you must be exhausted so we decided since most are finished already that the remaining two days will be spent to your own expense. Meaning, you can do what you want!" this time all that was heard was the cheers of excitement.

Mikan turned to face Natsume and Ruka. "I'm so excited! I want to tour the whole island! Let's go shopping for our friends in school and eat as much of their specialties as we want!" she said very hyper.

The two just stared in amusement but followed her not minding that they had no clue where she was headed as their minds were somewhere else.

"—and she told me it wasn't for free! I had to pay for those stupid crab brains, they didn't even taste as good as their price. Hey, are you two even listening to me?" she asked in annoyance.

"Of course we were, Mikan." Ruka replied guilty for lying.

"What was I talking about then?" she challenged them.

"Crab brains which were costy." That was as much as Natsume heard. He was thinking of a good way to make a move on her in their remaining days.

"Ugh, whatever. Look, a howalon store!" she pointed like a small child. Natsume heard about that, something about it being ten times better than cotton candy. Well it really looked like she loved it so he went with her. Ruka looking for something the other way told him that he'll be going the other way.

He wasn't sure if Ruka did it to leave them alone but for whatever reason, he was thankful that he did.

"Can I have one box per flavor?" she said beaming at the guy at the counter that couldn't help but blush at her cuteness and innocence. "Hai." He replied barely stopping himself from stuttering.

"Thanks!" she reached for her wallet when the exact amount was dropped on the counter. She looked up to see Tsubasa with a smile on his face.

"Tsubasa, hey!" she said.

"Hey, never knew you had a knack for this."

"I love it!" she said as she opened one. "You didn't have to pay for it, you know."

Natsume was behind Mikan the whole team and you could see the jealousy radiating off of him. Tsubasa looked at him and smirked.

"Mikan, who's the lucky guy?"

"Oh, this is Natsume. Unfortunately, he's not lucky enough… for now." She added playfully as Natsume tried to take everything in stride but it was proving a bit hard for him.

"Hey, I'm Tsubasa." He said as Natsume continued to ignore him. "I bet you haven't told him about me. Well, it was a nice way of spending one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen."

"It was fun." Mikan agreed. Natsume wondered where the hell they could've met considering he's been with her most of the time she was outside.

"You must've not been dating for long because she was crying when I met her a few days ago." So that's when.

"Just shut up." It wasn't the best memory for him.

"You've got a keeper." He said smirking then looked at his watch. "Well, I have to go or I'll miss my flight. See you again Mikan-chan!" he said as he waved her goodbye running out the door.

Natsume turned to face her with greed in his eyes. "Who was that?"

"A friend." Mikan replied as she took another piece and plopped it in her mouth. She couldn't help but giggle in delight. He watched her in wonder at how such a thing could make her react so bad.

"And that's all you'll ever be?" he asked.

"You can't really tell you know. I mean you could end up with the guy who was selling this, who knows?" well that didn't really give him much satisfaction.

"So where do you want to go next?" he asked.

"Let's buy souvenirs!"

He remembered this shop he passed by once that sold cheap souvenirs so he grabbed her wrist as they he dragged her there. When they finally arrived, she was amazed. It wasn't just a shop, it was a whole building for crying out loud!

"You think it's enough?" he asked as he stared at her awe at the size of the place.

"I don't think I'll end up buying just for those who I wanted. There's just too many places!" she spoke in excitement. So she ended up bringing him to all the floors and by the time they were done, they only had two hours left and both of them were tired.

"I suggest we rest." He said.

"Yeah." She replied trying to catch her breath.

They found a place in the beach beside a cave so they set up the mat and all as they were finally able to eat the kebabs. Mikan took one bite of it and sighed in pleasure. She didn't know how turned on Natsume was by that and she'd probably prefer not to.

"This is the best kebab I've ever tasted." She said complimenting him. "Or maybe I'm just hungry." She decided to say just to keep him from getting any cockier.

"Well, you're cooking tomorrow so just in case the hotel burns down, I've already booked myself a room at another hotel." He teased.

"Prepare to take all that back." She said confidently.

"Do you think you're good enough to turn this into a bet?" he asked as a trap.

"I don't think, I _know._" She stated. Maybe he was rubbing off on her.

"Alright then, winner gets one dare for the loser, no matter how absurd or hard it may be." He said.

"It's on. I've always wanted to know how you'd look like in a tutu and how much Hotaru would do for a picture of that and how much your fangirls will pay for one copy."

"Don't get too arrogant, babe. So what's the rules for winning?"

"If I get you to show a positive reaction towards it then I win."

"What are these reactions?"

"Ummm… a good comment, a sigh of contentment or something of that sort."

"Deal." He said taking his hand out of pocket as she shook it.

**A/N: Done! You have any comments? There's that box down there that would accept any. Please! I loved the previous chapter but it barely gained me any reviews so it was depressing guys… I hope you do review! Even if it's flames because I really want to get better. **

**R&R!**

**Signing off,**

**Bubblefizz001 (which is also my tumblr account, if you want to follow)**


	18. Chapter 17

**A/N: Ohmagee guys! I'm so sorry for the super long wait! I'm so sorry and this time I don't have much of an excuse. I was lazy after the tests. Well, at least it's Christmas break and I will be able to update twice in this duration. Thank you if you still actually remember this. Yeah, it's almost ending. There are only about four chapters left.**

**Mrysmanga- Thank you for reviewing first for this chapter. Imma give you a pixel cookie. Sorry you can't eat it.**

**Natsumikanluverization697- Sorry I didn't actually update soon. I'm having a lazy block.**

**SakuraFossil- Awww, you're so sweet.**

**MomoneMomo3- Nah, it's okay. At least you did review so thanks!**

**Ellabell- Thank you.**

**XxAoiHoshixX- Well, here it is. Thanks for the undying support~**

Recap

"Alright then, winner gets one dare for the loser, no matter how absurd or hard it may be." He said.

"It's on. I've always wanted to know how you'd look like in a tutu and how much Hotaru would do for a picture of that and how much your fangirls will pay for one copy."

"Don't get too arrogant, babe. So what's the rules for winning?"

"If I get you to show a positive reaction towards it then I win."

"What are these reactions?"

"Ummm… a good comment, a sigh of contentment or something of that sort."

End of Recap

They went back both sure they'll win. Mikan went to the grocery before going back and made sure to get the best pieces of every sort. It took quite a part of her budget but she could make him pay that later.

Once she arrived, she discreetly went to Ruka's floor and knocked on his door. He opened a few seconds later with a towel on his head but fully dressed up already. "You just finished dressing up?" she guessed.

"Yeah but no worries, come in." She stepped inside and had a random epiphany about Ruka, he was the neatest guy she'd ever met. Everything was so organized up to way the pillows were arranged. She couldn't but laugh at that. He looked at her wonderingly but she just waved her hand off as if to say it was nothing.

She sat down on the bean bag beside the bed as she finally decided to tell him what she came there for. "Okay, I wanted to ask you something."

"I guessed that much. You wouldn't really go here just to chat, that would be a bit of a hassle." He said.

"Do you know Natsume's favorite food?"

"Well yes but I don't think he'd want you to know."

"Please! I need to win our bet, I'm just making sure."

"It's a bit of a secret."

"Oh, come on it's just his favorite food."

"Fine, but don't tell him I told you." She nodded as he whispered what it was.

"Really, I never saw him as the kind of person who'd like such a common thing."

"Well I don't know I think he holds some memories with that so he feels nostalgic every time he eats that. I'm sure you'll get something out of that."

"Alright but I have to go back to the grocery since I never thought it would be that."

"Okay, see you tomorrow." He replied as she retreated out the door

She came back to her dorm a bit later and set her alarm at dawn putting it's volume to the highest. The alarm rang and her eyes opened to it's annoying shrilling sound. She clicked it so hard that it fell to the floor and broke into two. Great, now she had to ask for a new one if not buy one.

She took a shower and as she was blow drying her hair, she thought of how she was going to make onigiri in such a way that will make him feel something…. good. She was thinking so hard that her other hand accidentally touched the warm end of the blower.

"Ow!" Amazing way to start the day. She could only hope for it to turn out better. I mean, she was just going to make rice balls for crying out loud.

She dressed up and went down to the kitchen. She rummaged through the cabinets to find what she needed. She got a recipe book and looked at it's instructions. She looked through the ingredients and they were thankfully present.

She got the rice and steamed it. She just stared for a few minutes watching the steam coming out and then measured each into a half cup and put them into separate bowls. She made a dent in each bowl and placed the fillings. She did the remaining steps as she finally placed the nori on the rice bowl.

"Done!" she yelled in success. She grabbed one out of the six she made. She took a bite and decided it tasted okay. "Oh no, it has to be better than okay, repeat." She did about three more trials until she was finally satisfied. She slumped into the chair in exasperation. She put them all in a basket with iced tea.

She knocked on his door a few minutes later trying to put on the most convincing smile she had. He opened the door later all ready which was good because she didn't want to see him topless and all, she thought. Wait, she knew.

"So where do you want to go?"

"We can actually just eat outside the cafeteria by the Sakura tree I saw yesterday."

"I saw that the moment we got here."

"Whatever you say, Mr. I see everything first."

"That was such a lame comeback."

"And you're being a jerk now let's go." She said dragging him.

"Okay, no need to drag me woman."

"You're acting weird today."

"No I'm not." He denied.

"You're more rude." He was about to disagree when, "I like you more now."

"You are attracted to weird guys?" he said incredulously.

"I said like. At least you're not trying to flirt with me every chance you have."

"Are you sure about that?" he said with that annoying smirk.

" Did it hurt?" she asked randomly.

"Did what hurt?"

"When you fell from heaven," she said sweetly. He looked at her strangely.

"You're acting weird too."

"Because you're face is really fucked up." She said still with that sweet smile as she dashed towards the tree. He ran after her and tackled her to the ground as he tickled her so hard.

"No stop it!" she yelled laughing. He finally let her go and let out a small smile.

"So what poisonous food did you prepare today?"

"You know maybe I should've poisoned it. First, I would be sure to not do anything you like and you'll be out of the way. Should've suggested that earlier." She said teasing him.

"Seriously though, what did you cook?"

"You'll see." She said beaming at him while he forced himself not to kiss her then and there. She brought out a container as he stifled his impatience as she slowly opened it to finally reveal the onigiri.

"You made onigiri?"

"No shit, Sherlock."

"Why'd you choose this out of the countless types of food?" he already had a pretty good guess.

"Because if I'm not mistaken, this is your favorite dish is it not?" If it wasn't, she was going to kill Ruka.

"How'd you find out?"

"Fangirls." She said lying. Ruka was better off not getting busted.

"Yeah sure. Anyway let's see if it's half as bad as I think it will be."

"Prepare yourself." He grabbed the chopsticks and took one into his mouth. He slowly bit it and chewed and it brought him to a nostalgic abyss.

_Flashback_

"_Natsu-chan, I made your favorite."_

"_Mom, I told you not to call me that. I'm seven."_

"_Yes, seven is still a kid age so I still have the right to call you that. Now come here and share this plate of onigiri with me."_

"_It's still warm?" he looked at her expectantly._

"_Of course, now if you have no plans on eating it then I will finish your part too." She said teasing him._

"_Noo!" he ran to her and put one on his mouth even though it didn't fit. He munched on it happily while his mom just stared at him laughing at how adorable he looked._

_He didn't know then that it was going to be one of their last moments together. If only he saw what he knew now then._

_End of Flashback_

Mikan was still staring at him as his eyes conveyed a certain sadness and she immediately felt guilty. Maybe she shouldn't have chose that as she probably couldn't perfect it and to him it just tasted like poison.

"I'm sorry, is it that bad?" he looked at her wondering what made her think that. At this point, he just had to tell the truth. It brought out too many things in him.

"Actually it was pretty good." He breathed out. "For an amateur." He still had his pride so he couldn't make her feel it was the best thing he's tasted.

"Really? Oh my gosh, I can't believe I won!" Out of instinct, she hugged him while he was left to control his blush. She suddenly realized what she did.

"Oh sorry. Did I cut off you blood circulation? I've done that before and they got mad at me. Why did all the blood rush to your face though?"

"I'm fine." He was able to mutter in a somewhat coherent way.

"Oh good, but I want to know though, what made you like it?" she knew she wasn't the best cook around. There were plenty who could cook it better. She just thought why he actually like it.

"It reminded me of something." he said.

"What?" she asked curiously. He had always kept his personal life private but he found himself telling her the story. She just looked so loyal with her big brown eyes that resembled one of a puppy's.

"When I was younger I was really close to my mom. She was my superhero, the one I really looked up to. She always made this onigiri when I felt down or when it was a special occasion. I didn't know why but I grew attached to it. It was a sign of her love and comfort. But one day, I just woke up to my father's cries as he was talking to someone on the phone. It turned out to be the hospital. We rushed there only to find out she was dead on arrival from a car accident. Ever since then, I never go to taste that onigiri and I was left to comfort myself as my dad isn't a very touchy person."

And she did the most unexpected thing for him, at least. She kissed his forehead comfortingly. She had tears in her eyes as she couldn't imagine the pain he had gone through. She decided what she wanted to ask for winning the bet.

"Hey, I decided my prize already." She told him giddily.

"Way to ruin the moment." He sighed. He was still unsure if telling her that was the greatest decision he's done.

"Are you ready to hear it?"

"Whatever."

"I will cook onigiri for you when you need it."

"Isn't that more to my benefit?"

"Well yeah but I want to improve my cooking skills to so it's like mutualism. We both benefit!" she cheered.

"I didn't even know you knew the word mutualism. I guess that's a level up for you." He said smirking.

"Hey I'm even giving you comfort food and you insult me. Give that back!" she said while trying to grab the container from him.

"Sorry, it's mine." He said running from her. She ran after him only to arrive panting in the cafeteria to find everyone outside ready to go to town.

"Wait for me!" she screamed as everyone turned to look at her weirdly.

"Mikan, we sort of don't have a choice as we're all waiting for the bus to take us to the shopping areas." Tom explained. (A/N: That's his name right? I forgot. Teehee :3)

"Oh, hehe." She laughed embarrassed while rubbing her head.

"Idiot." She heard someone mutter beside her. She turned to glare at the person who was actually Natsume with Ruka beside him.

"Morning Ruka!" she said gleefully.

"Morning Mikan. Did it work?"

"Yeah, thanks!"

"I thought you said it was a fangirl." Natsume said accusingly.

"That was another thing we were talking about, right Ruka?" she said laughing nervously.

"Yeah." He said not exactly sure of what was happening.

"Let's go. The bus is here. It's our last day. Let's make it the best!" Mikan said determined pushing her fist into the air. The others just shook their heads as if pretending not to know her. Ruka and Natsume followed behind her as they rode the bus for the last time as they will ride a different bus later already leading them to the airport.


	19. Chapter 18

**A/N: First of all, Happy New Year!**

**Alright, a toast to new beginnings! It was a pretty tough year for me and the best that can happen is that 2011 will be better, I will try to make it better. We make our own destiny you know.**

**So this is my new year gift, I guess. I am feeling good. **

**Anon reviewer- Did you delete your review or something because it's lost. I don't know why. Anyway you're one of the two who reviewed and I loved it. Thank you, it was a great review.**

**First of all, yeah, I get a lot lazy to proofread it but I did this time (half read) and yeah I did my best to not make the characters seem so OOC and I'll remember that song thing next time. Thanks!**

**Natsumikanluverization697- hehehe, yeah laziness will really get to you sometimes, thanks for reviewing! **

_Recap_

_"Morning Ruka!" she said gleefully._

_"Morning Mikan. Did it work?"_

_"Yeah, thanks!"_

_"I thought you said it was a fangirl." Natsume said accusingly._

_"That was another thing we were talking about, right Ruka?" she said laughing nervously._

_"Yeah." He said not exactly sure of what was happening._

_"Let's go. The bus is here. It's our last day. Let's make it the best!" Mikan said determined pushing her fist into the air. The others just shook their heads as if pretending not to know her. Ruka and Natsume followed behind her as they rode the bus for the last time as they will ride a different bus later already leading them to the airport._

_End of Recap_

The bus came to a halt and as they were stepping out, confetti spurted out of random places. There were some screams heard, mostly coming from the girls. They looked around them and found their advisors and heads of the trip as they yelled surprise and a big scroll opened up to them that had a big 'Thank You' written al over it in big bold red letters. The bus had gone and they looked behind them and saw what the bus was hiding, a buffet table but before they could rush to it. The organizer took hold of a microphone and spoke, "Hold it right there."

They all turned to look at him. "Ok, I know the sight all makes us drool in hunger so I decided to make this short and clear. Thank you for a three things. First of all, thank you for actually being here instead of learning in your schools. I'm sure you all have a lot of catching up to do once you get back." He said smiling while some groaned in realization. "Secondly, thank you for doing your best to make as much repair as possible. I am sure that this will bring much happiness to the people here for a long time, especially to the ones whose homes you fixed. Lastly and most definitely not the least, thank you for enjoying the trip we all took. I know some of you may have been forced to do this so I am so grateful that all of you did this with willing hearts because without happiness, we wouldn't have been able to accomplish much. That's all. Enjoy your last day!" he said as the people rushed to the tables.

"Natsume, let's get food!" Mikan said dragging him towards the mouth-watering food.

"You go, I'll get a seat for us. I'm still full with what you made."

"Okay, thanks. Ruka, go with me." They walked towards the table as she didn't know which of them to pick as they all looked so delicious so she got them all. She ended up with two plates but it was fine with her since even if Natsume said he was full, she'd force him to eat with her. Ruka, on the other hand, got a more reasonable plate, with rice and a scoop of 3 meals. They got their drinks. Ruka got Mikan's as she had no hand left to hold it. They arrived at the table as Natsume raised a teasing eyebrow at Mikan.

'I didn't know you ate like a pig." He commented.

"Whatever. Your criticisms are music to my ears." She said beaming at him.

"I didn't know you like me that much." He replied smirking.

"It's so you to turn my words against me. What I meant to say was that it's better that you throw unmeant insults rather than have you flirting with me." She explained as she took a bite from the Panini and sighed in pleasure. That got Natsume's attention as he clutched the table to able to preserve his thinning self-control.

Let's face it; he was an ex-playboy as much as he wanted to forget that. He had raging hormones as he was used to making out with at least two girls a week and being with her, he knew he couldn't afford to do that. It started getting to him the day he walked in on Mikan with just her undergarments on. It was just so hard for him. He wanted her, yes but he wasn't sure that she liked him enough.

"This is so yummy Natsume, you have to taste it." Before he could remind her he was satisfied, she shoved the spoon down his throat. It was good he had to admit but she didn't have to do that.

"It's good right?" she said staring at him with those innocent brown orbs.

"Yeah." He said quietly as he grabbed a glass of water and swallowed slowly still recovering from the surprise attack that she sent him.

She ate fast and he wondered how she could stay so thin so he asked her that. He knew most girls would've probably be offended by it but Mikan wasn't like most girls. She answered honestly saying that it was probably because she did sports as he only now found out that she was co-captain of the volleyball team.

"So, you done? Don't tell me you're still going to eat after all that?" he asked teasingly.

"What if I told you I haven't even reached half of what I usually eat." She said with an amused smile.

"I'd tell you you're lying because I've been eating with you for a lot of days now so I know that you've never eaten that much." He replied proudly.

"Okay, fine. I'm actually tired from all that eating. I want to sleep but I can't because we still have so much to see. Ruka, you done?" she said looking at him. He nodded as they proceeded to bring their plates back.

"So what are we planning to do since I'm done with my shopping for presents?" she asked looking back to the two guys.

"How about we really see the place? I mean, get out of town. Just go on a road trip as you might call it." Ruka suggested. Mikan thought about it and it really was a good idea.

"I agree. Don't you think so too, Natsume? I love exploring!" she said spinning.

"Do I have a choice? It seems that I'm with Dora here." He said which got him a strong hit on the shoulder surprisingly from Mikan.

"I passed by this shop that rented out vans and cars so we can go there now." Ruka said as he lead the way.

They entered the shop and rented out a small Honda Jazz because it was either that or an RV and it was too bulky for them. They packed their stuff into it which was mostly food, junk food to be precise.

"We're going on a road trip!" she shouted excitedly out the window.

They went into this cave that led into a muddy forest so they parked there and of course wearing their travel gear. They hiked and panted all the way through.

"Halfway… there." She breathed out though, of course none of them knew for sure as they were all new to it.

"Man, let's rest for awhie." Ruka breathed out. They settled through a big rock and Mikan brought out a picnic basket. They laid a mat and sat down on it. Mikan brought out three sandwiches and handed them out. Natsume took a bite and accepted the fact that Mikan was a pretty good cook.

"When did you have time to actually make these?" she asked.

"When I made the onigiris, I had some extra time so I decided to make these." She explained as she took a bite out of hers and munched on it happily.

They ate as they conversed happily. The air was very light as Ruka observed that compared to when they first came here, the two were now really comfortable with each other. Mikan even pulled a few shoulder slaps on Natsume and he shockingly laughed once at some corny pun she made. It was a fresh sight to behold.

"Okay, we have to get going or else we won't get that far." Ruka said as they got up, fixed their things and continued on with their journey.

"We're lucky the heat isn't that strong today." Mikan said and the two nodded in agreement.

They hiked for about half an hour more when they reached the end of the road they were currently taking. They looked and the view was one they wouldn't forget in their lifetime. They apparently reached the start of a fountain as it was a Cliffside. From their persective, the sun was at it's peak. It would have been more beautiful had they reached sunset but it was beautiful to say the least. They could see the whole forest from up there and how far they've come and all of them were in agreement that the journey was worth it.

"Wow, this is just so amazing." Mikan finally let out after a minute of them just staring.

"Yeah but I left my camera in the car. I didn't think it would have been so beautiful to be documented." Mikan said in disappointment.

Ruka suddenly stood up and brushed his pants as he told her, "No worries. I have mine in my bag. I'll just go get it." They dropped it a few meters away as they found it too heavy and the relief of seeing it just made them drop it.

"It's so beautiful." Mikan once again said in admiration.

"Am I supposed to say that goes the same for you too?" Natsume teased.

"I'd kill you if you did." She replied laughing. She looked at him then at the view and just dropped her head to his shoulder.

"I guess it is a rare sight." He admitted as he slowly put his hand on her shoulder. He knew it was one of the oldest tricks in the book but he just felt the need to do it. Lucky for him, she didn't pull away. Instead she snuggled more into the warmth.

"How much exactly happened while I was gone?" Ruka asked finally arriving. Mikan suddenly conscious of what they were doing slowly removed Natsume's hand from her shoulder then looked up at Ruka sweetly smiling as she said, "Nothing."

They took pictures some that even included them as Mikan decided it would make a good profile picture as she also wanted to show her friends the place. They finally got their bags and took their shorter trip back to the car. Well, at least it felt shorter as they were finally going down rather than up.

They rode back to the Jazz and went a small grill house named 'Flame' to eat lunch. It was a bit later than the usual time to eat so they were hungry. They ordered a platter of barbecues and some kebabs. They ate in silence as the only thing you can hear was their munches as the hunger really got to them. As they paid and were stepping out of the establishment, something caught Mikan's eye.

It was a bright poster that was supposedly an advertisement for a tiki-themed afternoon party and it was starting just about… now.

"We should go!" she told them.

"I am not in the mood for dances." Natsume mattered.

"We don't have to dance, we can just party, socialize." She explained to him.

"I thought you weren't one for socializing." He assumed that seeing that she'd be really popular if she were.

"I've decided to turn over a new leaf just like you."

"Really now?"

"Yeah, so can we go? Please." She decided to turn on her puppy dog eyes just this one time. He simply couldn't help it so he just scratched his head and nodded almost unnoticeably.

"Yay! So now we have to go back to the hotel as we have to change into beach outfits."

"Okay." They headed back as Mikan changed into a polka-dotted bikini and Natsume got into blue trunks while Ruka wore black ones. They headed towards the location which was obviously the beach. When they arrived, there were already a couple of people around. Some were drinking mojitos, others were dancing and a lot were playing limbo. It sure seemed like a fun party. First off, they decided to watch those who were playing and it got them to join as well. Mikan lost on the 2nd lowered bar. Ruka almost got to the last and Natsume won.

They sat for awhile talking, as they drank some pina coladas and watched some couples dancing. Eventually, a few girls asked them to dance and Natsume turned them down as quickly as possible in a mostly brutal way while Ruka danced with some just to be nice. When the numbers of the girls multiplied and Ruka was off dancing, Natsume just wanted to shout at them until he had an idea that will benefit him a lot.

He turned to Mikan who was cluelessly sipping in her drink, "Hey." She turned to look at him with her brown innocent orbs. "What?" she asked curiously.

"Would you do me the honor of dancing with me?" Of course if there were no other girls, he wouldn't ask her so formally but he still would've asked her.

"Sure." She knew he was up to something and she only agreed because she wanted to know why. She had been spacing out a bit so she wondered where Ruka had actually gone.

Just when they stepped on the dance floor, the DJ changed the theme of the music from upbeat to a slow romantic one. He grabbed her hand and took his free hand around her waist. They moved to the slow beat of the music. She leaned on his shoulder as she decided to look at him.

"What was all that about?" Maybe she was hoping that he'd say that he just wanted to dance with her but that was probably not the case.

"The girls were bothering me." She didn't know why she felt a tinge of hurt when she knew it wasn't because of his attraction to her. Apparently, the eyes are the window to the soul so Natsume caught that flash of hurt on her eyes and immediately felt guilty. He just didn't want to seem that he liked her that much but I guess this was it.

"Well that was one of the reasons but definitely not the main one." She looked at him confused. "Ever since we arrived here, I wanted to dance with you but I already told you that I wasn't in the mood so I assumed you'd think me weird so I decided to use those girls—"

He was cut off when he felt Mika's soft lips upon his own. He kissed back and they were just there in the middle of the dance floor locked in each other. Ruka was looking for them when he finally caught sight of the two, he let out a contented sigh.

"Finally."

**A/N: Please review! Barely anyone did last chapter and I tried to really improve my writing style so I hope you noticed that. Come on, there's like three chapters left~**


	20. Chapter 19

**A/N: I'm sorry that the chapter is already late and yet I still crammed it. It's a bit short for my liking and it seems hurried, gomen!**

**I'm taking creative writing this summer to get better at this for all of my readers out there and because I just can't live without writing!**

**Anyway, thanks for the many reviews, you guys are the best. **

**XxAoiHoshixX**** –thanks for being the first reviewee this chappie, hope you like this one too :3**

**Msdgirl- well yeah they've kissed but you know, it's the first one he's witnessed and the other one was just in the cheek.**

**Muzikchic4eva- Thanks for the awesome review, I can't believe it either but I'll be starting a new story though it's going to be Naruto.**

**Natsumikanluverization697- Thanks for the tireless support, mwah! **

**Pwenie- thanks! I can feel the love 3**

**xxxHazelxCrimsonxxx- I know right. I definitely will.**

**Chrisca123456789- thank you~**

**VeronicaLover123- Yeah it's a little to the end already, I know. Thanks for the great review**

He pulled away looking her in the eyes as in one second they were caught up in the heated kiss and next thing you know, they were both blushing so hard, well at least Mikan was. You'd need a magnifying glass to see Natsume's millisecond one. And of course, an awkward silence ensued around them. Ruka decided it was time to intervene.

"Hey, what's with the tension and all?" he asked as if he didn't see what happened. Mikan was looking down at the ground as if she was embarrassed of what transpired when in truth she just couldn't believe she did that and not actually regretting it.

"Nothing." He said as he walked away hiding his anger.

Ruka stared in bewilderment at the stunt Natsume just pulled. He immediately looked worriedly in Mikan's direction who looked like she was about to break down. He reached for her arm but she probably presumed it was coming so she ran away as her hands were on her face.

She ran until she felt no one was coming for her, she hated that even after what he said she still wanted for him to chase her. She guessed maybe she just wanted it like the movies where the guy chases after her after he does something wrong and does his best to apologize but now that she really thought about it, it just wouldn't be Natsume if he actually did that.

She felt a hand on her shoulder as she quickly looked up to see… Tom. The guy who had always been with her, the one who wouldn't hesitate to say sorry had he done something like that, the one who she could always talk to without fearing of saying something wrong or embarrassing so you couldn't blame her as her tear-streaked face leaned to Tom and…. Hugged him (A/N: fooled you?) He hugged her back as he did his best to comfort her.

They had merely two hours until they had to ride the place back home so he led her to a café where he asked her to tell him what happened as they shared some cookies and drank their vanilla and strawberry frappes. He listened intently knowing she didn't want to be disrupted. After the story, he put his hand on top of hers and squeezed it comfortingly.

"It'll be okay. He really likes you." Tom said assuringly.

"How do you know that?"

"I just do." He said smiling.

"Thanks for everything. Too bad we have to go to the airport already. I texted Ruka to bring my stuff with him so we should get going."

"Sure just let me get mine in the baggage counter."

They claimed it and rode a cab towards the airport. They got dropped right in front of Ruka with a seemingly sulking Natsume behind him.

"Hi Ruka."

"Hey Tom." The two had become good companions through the trip. Ruka would've wanted to get closer with him but it seemed that he and Natsume were in not so good terms so he decided it would be better for him to steer away.

"So we should get in already." They entered as the blast of aircon cooled their almost sweating faces. They checked in and since their plane was still leaving in 2 hours, it was going to be a long time for them.

"Hey Tom, where's your hometown?" Mikan asked seeing as the tension was so thick between everyone.

"Hokkaido but I like traveling so I'm actually barely there."

"What about school?"

"I actually have a private tutor because my dad's actually a captain of a cruise ship and my parents are separated so every time I'm in Hokkaido, I'm with my mom and I travel whenever I'm with my dad."

"Wow, that's really cool." Mikan commented while Natsume scoffed.

"It's nothing special. It's a bit annoying sometimes as I can barely make long lasting friendships because I know I won't be seeing these people much." He remarked and Mikan decided that it was true so she nodded in agreement.

"I guess we won't be seeing much of you after this? She asked.

"Yeah, too bad. I really wanted to get to know you guys. You seem pretty cool."

"I know, we're like the coolest people you'll ever meet. I can't believe you're letting go of us." Mikan teased to which the three of them laughed to as Natsume just kept quiet in the whole conversation as if part of the background.

The speakers buzzed as they were called to boarding. They grabbed their luggage and headed towards the plane. The seating was Natsume and Mikan with Tom and Ruka in the row behind them. The two were quite worried for the state of the two in front of them as if praying for a miracle.

Mikan just couldn't bring herself to speak when it came down to just the two of them. She still didn't forgive him for what he did. How he played her as he made it seem like he actually liked her then telling her it was nothing. It just gave her a pain in the chest by the mere memory of it. She decided that it was probably another reason not to get into a relationship in the near future. Maybe it would be better if she actually just focused on her dreams for the moment. One of them being elected captain next year as they'll be graduating. She knew it would be a bit of a hassle but she could handle it.

"Would you like any drinks?" she looked up to see a stewardess with a tray that was probably asking the two of them but she wasn't so sure considering her eyes were glued to Natsume. She discreetly looked at him only to see he had his earphones on but she guessed he knew what was going on as he always acted like a know it all.

"I'd like some iced tea please." She asked as it was handed out to her with a smile.

"Thanks." She took a sip then placed on the cup holder as she leaned back and started drifting asleep. It was a mere three hour flight but she knew she'd need it. She woke up only to feel a heavy weight on her shoulder. She slowly opened her eyes as she blinked a couple of times to get used to the light and looked at the watch in front to find that there was about half an hour left meaning she was most likely asleep for two hours.

She finally looked to see what made her shoulder heavy to see Natsume lying comfortably on it. His hair was all rumpled and going in all directions but it didn't make it look funny; in fact it even looked better. She had this urge of taking a picture but she didn't want to wake him up by any sound her camera might make so she just decided to get her bag as she took out a book and started reading.

A few minutes later, Natsume stirred and Mlikan suddenly felt nervous of his reaction once he wakes up. He'd probably make no big deal out of it; just like the kiss. She hated the fact that as much as she wanted to forget about the whole charade but it just couldn't escape her mind.

His eyes opened only to see his vision to be diagonal for some reason as he felt himself leaning on something soft. He nuzzled closer to it as Mikan blushed at his actions. He finally gained focus and straightened up and looked at Mikan who was looking down with a red face and that's when he knew he blew it way out of proportion.

She had liked him and well, he ended it because he had wrongly assumed. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration as she took a peek at him and realized that he was probably annoyed that he did that seeing as he didn't like her and all. She let out a loud sigh as she just hated herself for liking him so much that just that gesture had hurt her.

The rest of the trip was silent both of them itching to get out. Natsume just wanted to get home and drink his feelings away, hoping to feel better once he woke up even with a hangover. Mikan, on the other hand, just couldn't take the seriousness Natsume's body was radiating, she just wanted to run away as it made her feel so uncomfortable.

Thankfully, the pilot announced that they would be arriving in five minutes, she held tightly on the armrest. He was so close to her, close enough to touch but of course, she wouldn't; not if she wanted to be on civil terms with him that is, she decided. Finally, the plane came to a halt and they were finally allowed to stand as she got her hand bag and got off. She just kept walking until she felt a hand on her arm. She turned around to see Ruka with Tom.

"We just wanted to see if you already have a ride home. I will be carpooling with Natsume and it would be fine if you ride with us too." Just the thought of it made her feel bad but she decided to be discreet and politely refused saying she will be taking a cab.

"Wouldn't that be more inconvenient for you?" Ruka asked. She was pretty sure convenience was not her priority right now so she just told him she'd be fine as she got her luggage and waited in line.

She had eventually reached the front of the line and got in. She told her location as the driver sped off. She was still a bit tired so she slowly drifted to sleep and the last thing she saw was the car spinning wild and out of control.

Natsume just arrvived hom yet this nagging feeling at the pit of his stomach won't stop as if to say something happened. He knew Ruka got home safely as he was dropped off first so he was wondering what this feeling was all about. She decided to take a quick shower and change as he got some food from the fridge and settled on the couch.

He turned the television on and grabbed the remote to switch it onto to the sports channels as he found most news to be depressing but before he was able to click the button, a familiar street flashed on the screen as the reporter's voice resounded in the room.

"Yes, it has just happened. None are sure how it happened but some eyewitnesses says that the driver seemed to be falling asleep as he just lost control of the car so suddenly and it started spinning as it fell off the hill." That's what he meant by depressing. He passed that place everyday on the way to school, nearly everyone did as it was a very open road. Now, everyday he passed there he'd remember this.

"There was a passenger inside, apparently. She is now in the hospital with barely enough blood to keep her alive. Poor girl, she seemed young just out of the airport. We found her passport inside her luggage and her parents are to be contacted immediately. The driver on the other hand seems to have escaped." The passport suddenly flashed on the screen and within seconds, Natsume was out of the house, his car speeding towards the nearest hospital to that street.

"The passenger's name is Mikan Sakura. She is a student at Gakuen Alice, please pray that she may survive." The reporter said ending her report as the news drifted into something irrelevant to this story.


	21. Chapter 20

**A/N: Guys, sorry for the totally late update. I've been so busy with school lately that I haven't had the time and I got lazy. So, this is the second to the last chapter, I can't believe it!**

**I already have plans for my next story, but it's going to be Naruto so yeah…**

**Thank you for all your lovely reviews! They are just the best thing you could give me as an author, even if it is a flame. I hope this chapter pleases you, it's not a cliffie at the very least. I want to try something new as an author so yeah. There are a lot of great authors in here so you know I just want to try and be par with them.**

**Disclaimer: Do you guys actually still read this? If you are then I might as well tell you that you cannot be possibly expecting me to write that I own this thing, though that would be totally awesome, I do not own Gakuen Alice, some rad Japanese author does. (I have no idea what his/her name is)**

He finally arrived at the door of the hospital as the cold air flew by him as the air conditioner hit his face. It felt really good that moment as he had ran a couple of blocks because the accident caused quite a traffic jam so he parked his car when the vehicles just seemed to stop moving and ran from there on. His pants eventually led him to the nurse's desk.

"What *pant* room is *pant Mikan Sakura *pant staying in?" he asked. The nurse immediately looked at the patient's list as his hurry was very obvious.

"Room 124, it's on the second floor; turn right from the elevator then left at the pharmacy." She said with a smile as he whooshed by her as if he was never there.

He quickly opened the door as he almost forgot to breathe as he found her there with bruises all over her body and tubes all over and his knees just gave through as he fell into a squat and covered his face to just hope to hide the pain. He got up after a few minutes and stared at her somewhat serene face. He reached out to touch her cheek but quickly pulled back in guilt.

He took a seat beside her bed and just stared at her. He longed to see her hazel eyes again in their live optimism. He missed that smile on her face that just seemed to affect everyone. He let out a frustrated sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. Why did he have to be just so damn stupid? He should've just talked to her about it. A few minutes later, a nurse entered the room.

"Hey, are you okay?" the middle-aged woman asked him worriedly. He still had his forehead scrunched and was just staring into space for a while. He didn't even notice her come in. she decided to give him a light push which pulled him out of his reverie.

"Huh? What?" he asked wondering when she had come in.

"Young love, it's really a bad thing for the most part but hey, who am I to judge? I went through that a couple times." She said with a giggle at the end.

"How is she?" he immediately asked the moment she finished her mini monologue. She opened her record with her newly red nails and scrutinized the information presented before her.

"Since she just got here, we haven't gained enough to have sure results but she will definitely be here for awhile, I'd give it at least a month. She got so many bruises and her body isn't the strongest type. I hope you understand." She replied and looked at him while he stared back knowingly. She just went to check her vitals and left without another word.

He decided to turn the television on and watch for a bit but it was getting late. Half an hour later, visiting hours ended so he left her.

2 months later…

I had been two months and a declared coma. During that time, Natsume became colder and harsher to everyone, including himself, Ruka had told him not to blame himself for what happened but it just didn't seem possible. Every day, he would visit her and most times, he would bring a bouquet of flowers. Their batch sent a lot of get well notes during the first week but they wavered after a month. He also saw Hotaru a lot and they always shared a moment of understanding every time they saw each other there. They share a lot of 'what ifs' in their head but Natsume definitely had her beat.

The fangirls of his never deceased but they grew more quiet as if sharing in his grief. Either that or they couldn't take the deathly glares he sent them for all the squealing commotion they usually caused. The rest of the school was also wary of being near him. Sometimes, an accidental bump with him can cause a beat up face. There were at least two witnesses to that and since then, they were afraid of being in the same room with him.

Classes had just ended so he was currently back in her room as the family decided it was way too expensive for her to stay in the hospital so they just decided to bring her back home and she's just get a weekly check-up from her doctor. He brought her peonies today. He knocked on their front door twice but there was still no reply.

They were very used to seeing him there so he just decided to barge in. He opened it only to find the front room empty. He went up the stairs towards her room and peeked in only to see the bed was empty. All of a sudden, very frantic thoughts ran in his brain; that something might have happened to her and they were all back in the hospital. I fully opened the door only to see a note on her bright orange sheets. I walked over and took the ripped notebook paper to read what it said.

Hey Natsume, Believe it or not it's me, Mikan!

Yeah I woke up, I can't believe I was asleep so long, they say you've been visiting often, thanks~ even if I still can't believe it. Anyway, if you are reading this that means we are still out celebrating, Hotaru is already here. You can come and visit tomorrow.

, Mikan

He almost couldn't believe what he was reading. It was like a heavy load was removed from his body. He decided to leave the bouquet on her bed and left with an almost disbelieving look in his eyes. It was just a great feeling, knowing that she was okay, actually she sounded great.

He got into his car and drove home where he distractedly greeted his okaa-san who wondered what happened to him but decided not to pry. The day passed so slowly for him. He couldn't wait for the next day to arrive. He hatched up a plan. He texted Ruka the good news and he sounded more relieved than him. If it meant getting the old Natsume back, minus the playboy attitude , then this was a time to celebrate.

The next (long-awaited) day~

Mikan woke up feeling happy but at the same time nervous of all the classes she missed. Yesterday, was fun and all but it was time to go back to reality. She couldn't believe that Natsume and Hotaru visited her every single day. Well, she was more surprised with Natsume considering the feud they were left with last time.

She took a shower and dressed up in their uniform with a smile on her face. She ate breakfast hastily not wanting to be late. She bid her parents goodbye as she headed for the bus stop and waited for a few minutes watching the kids play across the street until the bus arrived and she hopped in giddy inside filled with butterflies in her stomach.

She got off a block from the school and walked. Her legs felt a bit weak as she hasn't used them for two months. She finally arrived and when she did, all eyes were on her almost unsure of what they were seeing. The first one to approach her was Yuu.

"Mikan- chan, I'm glad that you are okay!" he said sincerely. She gave him a smile in return.

A lot more people approached her and told her how much they missed her and she just couldn't believe how much people noticed. The bell rang and the crowd dispersed as she was finally able to reach her locker. She got the books for her first two subjects. She closed her locker door and almost screamed in surprise to see Natsume was waiting behind it.

"Natsume, you scared me!" she yelped.

"How are you?" he asked with a concerned tone.

"I'm okay, I'm a little worried for classes since I have so much to catch up too, at least I'm lucky we had a two week break so that's a few lesser subjects to learn."

"I can teach you." He offered.

"Really? That would be great. Listen, Natsume thank you for the visits, I can't believe you were there everyday and I guess all I can ask is, why?" she really was wondering this before drifting to sleep last night.

"Because I realized how much of a jerk I was and if I had taken you for the ride, you wouldn't have been in a coma." He said apologizing.

"It's not your fault, okay? Don't beat yourself up because of this. I'm fine now and that's all that matters." She replied.

"And Mikan, I want to tell you something." He said leaning closer.

"What?" she asked her heart suddenly beating fast because of their close proximity.

"That kiss wasn't nothing, it was something at least to me and I guess it probably wasn't-" he was cut off by her kiss on the cheek.

"It meant something to me too." She said smiling and skipping off to class.

**A/N: Was it any good? Please review on what you think. It's amazing how many countries read this story and how few review but you know, I'm not complaining. At least, there are still readers after my long hiatus. And I know, super short pre-epilogue chapter, sorry but I'll make it up to you in the epilogue, promise~**

**Expect the next chapter at most a month from now~**

**Xoxo,**

**Bubblefizz001**


	22. Chapter 21

**A/N: OMG, why is this done? I have to admit in the middle, I got a bit bored with it but I have to say the way to the ending was one hell of a ride.**

**Okay, first off, I want to thank all of my readers. Thank you for supporting me through it all. I love you guys for your unwavering patience. I do hope you'll read my upcoming story and also like it. I also want to thank the ones who gave me constructive criticism, it was really helpful in making the story better. **

**I hope this last chapter will satisfy you. Sadly, I'm not planning for any sequel but if anyone out there wants to take it on, PM me or review. This story has been ongoing since last year and it just feels good to change it to complete. **

**Wow, I never thought it would be this way. I guess I got attached to this story a lot more than I expected, I hope you guys did too. Thank you for all the reviews that you guys keep sending no matter what. I'm a junior now so I'll be pretty busy but I'll do my best to go to ffn as much as I can.**

**Disclaimer: I love this story and I own it! The anime and manga, I do not. **

_Recap_

"_It's not your fault, okay? Don't beat yourself up because of this. I'm fine now and that's all that matters." She replied. _

"_And Mikan, I want to tell you something." He said leaning closer._

"_What?" she asked her heart suddenly beating fast because of their close proximity._

"_That kiss wasn't nothing, it was something at least to me and I guess it probably wasn't-" he was cut off by her kiss on the cheek._

"_It meant something to me too" she said then smiled, skipping off to class._

_End of recap_

Epilogue

TWO VERY LONG YEARS LATER…

"Oi." Mikan heard from behind. There was no need to guess who owned that deep male voice.

"Natsume, you made it!" she said in delight as she turned around to give him a hug.

"You said it was 'very important', you better hope it is." He replied smirking as he put his arms around her.

"It is, I'll show you." She grabbed a blindfold to cover his eyes.

"How will you show me if I can't see anything?" he retorted.

"You're so stubborn. Anyway, I know you're at least going to like this so stop doing you're know-it-all comebacks." She said as she led him farther from the entrance of her house. She finally stopped so he decided to take it off before a hand stopped him.

"Wait, I want to be the one who takes it off." She said in a childish manner.

"Fine." He grunted.

Slowly, she removed the blindfold and he saw how her room normally looks. He turned her way and raised an eyebrow. It seemed she was getting more idiotic every single day. She stuck her tongue out at him and handed him a letter that looked familiar but he didn't want to get too ahead of himself. It had Mikan Sakura cursively written in the front. He opened it and he had guessed right.

He had gotten the same thing a little more than a year ago. It was an acceptance letter from Tokyo U. It meant that they were going to the same school together. This was just amazing news. That meant they didn't have to deal with distance relationship problems that they have been these past few months. He let out a small smile that only she knew how to trigger. He was definitely done with the whole playboy charade.

"So, what do you think?" she asked with a big smile on her face.

"I think that this is," he said as he planted a kiss on her forehead, "great."

"I knew you'd be happy." She said as she skipped towards their kitchen. She grabbed some chips and she led him to the couch as she decided to watch 'Flipped'. She found the movie very endearing while he just ate the chips contentedly knowing it was some chick flick.

"Ne Natsume," she said while poking him, "don't you think the story's just so sweet?" she asked him grinning.

"Not really." He replied.

"Why not?" She asked frowning.

"Because," he started as he whispered in her ear, "I think we got them beat."

"You think we'd make a good story?" she asked laughing.

"A great one." He replied as he leaned down to give her a peck on the lips.

The rest of the day was spent cuddling as they just lay around. They watched the sunset from her terrace as they shared a romantic kiss. They both wished that every day could just be spent like this. They woke up the next morning to a knock on Mikan's door.

"Who is it?" Mikan called out while Natsume who was a bit groggy pulled her back into the bed and kissed her neck as he mumbled, "Stay." Into her ear which caused her to blush. She hesitantly pulled away as they heard Ruka say his name.

"Okay, just wait a minute." She called out again and stood up and took a quick look in the mirror as she decided she looked just as well. Her jammies were a bit rumpled but it was nothing too alarming. She put a gentle smile on her face and opened the door.

"Ruka, hey." She greeted him, a hug would be fine but Natsume's too overprotective for his own good.

"Hey, is Natsume around?"

"Yeah, why?" she asked.

"I wanted to invite the two of you to a party Hotaru's having later. She said she wanted to invite you two herself but your sweetness, to her, is nauseating." He let out an apologetic smile as he proceeded with the details.

"Okay, we'll be there." She replied as she led him out.

She came back into the room as Natsume's face asked the silent question. "Hotaru's having a party later and we're invited.

"Ah." He murmured and slept again. She took a shower and then she came back with him still sleeping. She just looked at his face and couldn't believe that she had this gorgeous face. His features were so defined and he just looked so innocent asleep. She ran her hands through his hair and touched his nose and almost screamed when he caught it.

"Am I too cute for my own good?" he said as he opened one eye.

"You have got to stop scaring me like that." She replied as she kissed his nose.

"No, thank you." He replied as he stood up to go to the shower.

A few hours later….

"Are you ready?" he called out to her for the third time. He went home to get some clothes and went back to her house to fetch her an hour before the party. They now had half an hour left considering she'd been there since forever.

"Okay, okay, stop pressuring me." She said finally taking a final look at her mirror in the closet door and feeling contented stepped out with confidence.

She got out and Natsume's throat suddenly felt dry. She was in this tight, body-hugging black one-shouldered dress that ended just a few inches below her waist. She paired it with black oxford boots and a black sequined clutch that just pulled it all together. She barely wore any makeup and had her hair in a messy, yet hot, sort of bun.

"How do I look?" she asked spinning for him.

"Absolutely stunning." He replied as he took her hand and opened the door of his Ferrari for her. She gave him a sexy smile in return. The drive was mostly her singing along to whatever song the radio played while he stayed content staring at her singing her guts out.

"We're here." He said as they finally arrived the gates of the Imai household. Mikan always felt that no matter when she came there, it was always going to be as elegant as it was the first time. Natsume noted that it definitely did not disappoint.

He led her out and this time covered her with the blindfold. She got a bit jittery inside and suddenly felt like a bundle of nerves having no clue what this was about.

"Natsume, what are you doing?"

"Guiding you."

"No shit, Sherlock." She replied a bit angsty and jumpy.

"Language." He scolded.

"Sorry dad." She retorted sarcastically.

Through the whole walk which lasted for about five minutes, she repeatedly asked 'are we there yet?' and he just wanted to put earplugs as he wondered if it was all worth it.

"Ok, it's a finally a pleasure to both of us that we are here." He replied as he took of her blindfold.

She felt the tears threatening to fall from her eyes as she saw Hotaru's yard turned into a ballroom sort of theme but that was not what sent her the waterworks. It was the gigantic sign behind all the designs that said 'HAPPY SECOND ANNIVERSARY!' in big bold letters along with their picture on the table as fireworks blasted through the sky in the shape of hearts.

"Oh my gosh!" she said jumping as the tears fell and she hugged him and turned again to see all of their closest friends in the tables looking at her and smiling, or at least the closest it can go to that i.e. Hotaru. He took her hand and brought her to the table in the front with two seats as he pulled the chair out for her and took a seat on his own.

"I can't believe this." She said almost sure it was all a dream.

"Did you actually forget?" he asked in mock anger.

"I guess I was just so hyped to let you see the acceptance letter that I completely forgot what the date was." She replied a bit embarrassed.

"Anyway, let's start the party!" he said as the DJ cranked up the volume and played the latest hiphop songs as the people made their way to the dance floor.

The two decided they'd dance later as Mikan said she was getting hungry so they headed for the buffet first where Mikan got double of what Natsume did. "Pig." He coughed out.

"They all look so yummy!" she complained.

"Whatever." He said as they headed back to their table to eat. Afterwards, they talked with their guests as Mikan never thought Hotaru would help Natsume.

She had simply replied, "He paid me." Well, at least now it makes sense.

Finally, Natsume asked her to dance and she smiled bashfully as if surprised and he brought her to the dance floor where the spotlight was on them and the DJ turned the music slow as he played, "First Dance" by Bieber (a/n: I couldn't think of a better song :3)

They spun their as close as their bodies could be with one of their hands holding and the other on their waist/shoulder. He spun her around as she gave him a smile that made him sure of all the decisions he made the past two years as they all lead to this moment which was only theirs to treasure and remember.

As the song ended, he led her to the Imai's mini forest as he sat by the biggest tree in the forest which was located in the middle and he motioned his hand for her to sit beside him. She carefully sat down as her dress wasn't exactly grass-friendly. He took her hand and slipped a box in it as he covered it.

"What is this?" she asked.

"My gift." He replied confidently.

"Natsume, I'm sorry that I don't have one and I real-" she was cut off by his finger on her lips.

"Don't worry. Just the fact that we're here having this party is enough for me."

"But you were the one who planned it." She whined really feeling guilty.

He looked deep into her eyes and said, "Just open it."

And after much ado, she finally did. She opened the crimson box that was the same color as NAtsume's eyes and found a gold star locket inside with her initials embossed. She opened it and found their picture exactly two years ago when she kissed his cheek and told him she was also interested in him.

"How'd you get it?" were the only words she could form right now .

"Imai." He replied with a smirk.

She let out a nostalgic smile, "Remember what happened after that?"

"Who wouldn't?"

_Flashback_

_Mikan's P.O.V._

_I can't believe I did that. Why did I kiss him? Now he must think I'm one of those easy girls that he used to do. Stupid Mikan, I thought as I banged my head on the table but I guess it was pretty loud because when I looked up from my table, everyone was looking at me worriedly. I let out a soft "it's nothing" as they probably thought the coma really messed with my head._

_Class soon ended and I felt like nothing was processing because all the terms seemed so foreign to me. By lunch, I was seriously running low on brain cells. I got a lot of lunch food. I took a seat beside Hotaru._

"_That's a lot of food, Mikan." Anna commented._

"_I got a major headache from the classes awhile ago." I replied as I took a spoonful of rice with the chicken._

"_It must be hard." She said sympathizing._

"_Yeah but I will catch up. Natsume volunteered to teach me." _

"_Are you two together, Mikan-chan?" Nonoko asked. All eyes on the table turned on me._

_Before I got a chance to reply, a voice behind me said, "Yes, we are." _

_By this time, the whole cafeteria was affixed on what was happening in our table. I looked behind to see Natsume himself with that cocky smirk on his face. I glared at him sending a silent message to 'cut it'. He didn't seem to get that as he put his tray beside me and all his friends sat on our table too. He even decided to put his arm around me. I was pretty sure I was blushing by then._

"_What the hell are you doing?" I seethed._

"_Eating lunch with my girlfriend." He replied as if it was the most obvious thing._

"_Yeah, that might have been possible had your girlfriend been here."_

"_She is. Now, feed me." He ordered. I was not going to be his slave so I grabbed my tray and decided to just eat outside where it was more peaceful._

_I was peacefully eating my dessert when I heard him say "Wait up!" as he jogged to get to the tree I was currently eating in. I let out a huge sigh as I turned to see him plop down beside me. I raised an eyebrow and he shrugged and began eating MY lunch. _

"_Hey what are you doing that for?" I asked with my mouth agape. After taking a spoonful for himself, he shoved the next one in my gaping mouth. I almost chocked in surprise. _

"_If you don't want to eat, I'll finish this for you." He offered with that annoying smirk of his._

_I immediately grabbed it from him and munched on the chicken. "Pig." He coughed out. I hit his shoulder but he seemed totally unfazed. I decided to lean against the tree's trunk and finally confront him. _

"_Natsume, what are we?"_

"_Homo sapien sapien, at least last time I checked." He retorted._

_I threw a playful glare his way and my face turned serious, "Really, what are we?"_

"_What you want us to be." He replied in a genuine tone of voice._

"_What if I say that I want 'us' to be nothing?" she said with hidden humor that she did her best to conceal._

"_Then that's we'll be." He replied grimly as he slowly got up to walk away._

_She quickly held his hand and whispered "I was only kidding, you know." _

_He looked down on her and suddenly swooped her up his arms which made her yelp in shock. He looked deeply into her eyes and said, "I knew that. No girl, and even some guys, would reject me." He leaned in for a kiss when she moved her head so his lips only kissed her cheek._

_She glanced at him and made a naughty smirk, "Not so fast, lover boy. I'm not one of those easy girls. You want this, we got to do things slow." She said confidently though inside she was scared, he wasn't going to accept her conditions. _

_He let her go and just when she was about to cry, he looked her in the eye and brought his hand out. "Deal."_

_End of Flashback_

"I can't believe they were spying on us." She said remembering what happened after that.

"Really? I'd find it harder to believe if Imai hadn't took a picture."

"Yeah but they never got sold, didn't they?" she asked, suddenly wondering.

"Hm, good observation." He brought out another box but this time, it was even smaller than the locket's box.

"Natsume, what's that?" he suddenly got something from his pocket and gave it to her. It was that picture. He must've paid for all the pictures and kept this one. She immediately cried, feeling so happy and blessed that kami gave her someone like Natsume.

"You know what else happened that day?" he said standing up and brought her with him. They walked out and she suddenly remembered the question.

"What did also happen?" she asked eagerly.

"It was the day I realized I love you." He said as he opened the box which revealed a diamond ring with gems around it shaped like a cherry blossom in a white gold band. She heard a loud sound coming from above and she looked up to see fireworks and a plane passed by with a glow in the dark sign that said 'Will you marry me?' in cursive gold.

The tears came even stronger and she looked at him and truly, she could see the love. She grabbed his collar and kissed him on the lips filled with so much emotion that she wanted him to see. She didn't want to hide anything from him, she was his now and most likely, forever.

She pulled away in a few seconds, mostly because she realized all the guests were watching. She whispered in his ear 'I love you too' and hugged him the hardest she could.

"Should I take that as a yes?" he asked.

She replied with another kiss except this was slower and she just cherished the moments she had with him and this would definitely be a top one. She feel so happy like she was flying. Her hands were tangled in his hair and he pulled her in closer even if she didn't deem it possible. They heard a cough in the back ground and saw Hotaru who had a 'TMI' stare at them.

They pulled away and the party started. This was turning out to be their engagement party as well. Natsume left her for awhile which left the girls to admire the ring. He got back and they were left alone and he handed her a glass of champagne.

"To us." He raised his glass and she clinked it with hers and the let's just they had the longest night ever.

THE END

Just kidding, LOL. I felt it was still so short so I decided to put in some extras happening in their future, parodies basically.

EXTRAS: SCENE 1

"Natsume, where is it?" Mikan asked worriedly.

"It's somewhere around there." He replied nonchalantly.

"Look, I'm about to give birth here and you're sitting there not even bothering to find the car keys." She said very frustrated at him.

"Fine, I'll look for it." For about half an hour, they looked everywhere in the houses for it and the result, nada.

"Oh God, my water just broke."

In Natsume's panic, he suddenly remembered. He reached into his pocket and he found the keys jiggling on his hand. A furious Mikan Sakura was now in front of him with both her sleeves up. It was quite funny actually, but he decided laughing would be the worst thing to do right now.

After labor….

"You named it after your dad?" he asked incredulously.

"I am not going to name my baby after a guy who stresses their wives out for no good reason." She said annoyed.

"I told you several times I forgot."

"Yeah, just like how you forgot to call for the doctor before we went in which is why we had to wait for awhile." She sighed frustrated at the "gentleman" sitting in front of her.

Finally, he looked down on the baby and he had to give it to them both, they made the most adorable baby ever known and no, he most definitely was not exaggerating. He was so small though. He was secretly excited to see what color his eyes were.

"He's the cutest thing, isn't he?" she said so tenderly, both of them forgetting what happened a few minutes ago.

"He definitely is." He replied as he leaned in for a kiss.

EXTRAS: SCENE 2

HotaRuka~

"Imai, when will you stop with the pictures?" he asked as they were hiding beneath the bushes during the party.

"Until I have enough."

"How much do you still need?" he asked exasperatedly.

"Clue, this is nowhere near half. Besides, you could leave you know." She said stoically.

"Yeah, and have you publish all those pictures I had when I just held the little girl's stuffed toy?" he replied annoyed.

"It's not my fault you are careless." She retorted then went back to taking pictures.

"Why are you even giving yourself a hard time? Most girls wouldn't go through so much trouble in a dress to take a couple of pictures." He commented.

"Nogi, I thought you were smarter than Mikan, I stand corrected. You should know by now, I'm not normal and I never plan to be."

"Okay, fine. But who's actually going to buy that? At this point, the whole high school façade has worn off and though they have admirers, they're a lot less talkative about it."

"Natsume's paying me." She curtly replied

"Oh." He said running out of words.

Finally, after an excruciating thirty minutes of squatting, she got up. She went back to the table and continued eating while watching the two lovebirds on the dance floor.

"They're really something, aren't they?" Ruka asked as he sat beside her. She looked at him and gave a shrug in reply.

"What do you want Nogi?" she asked suspiciously.

"I wanted to ask for your first dance." He said with a charming smile.

"You do know this is not going to make me give back those photos?" she stated apprehensively.

"I figured but we're the only ones who haven't had a dance yet so, might as well." He said as he reached his hand out in front of her.

"Fine." She said getting up as he led her to the dance floor, hands intertwined.

EXTRAS: SCENE 3

"Mommy, he broke my dolly!" Kaoru pointed to Izumi with a shriek.

"Izumi, why did you do that?" Mikan asked as she was preparing to scold him.

"I didn't do it on purpose," he said raising his hands up in the air. "I just told her she will never be a princess and she said that she might as well break her princess dolls and I volunteered to do it for her." He said in a tone that made it seem he was just being a reliable brother.

"Don't do it again or you'll get grounded." Mikan warned him as she stalked out of Kaoru's bedroom.

"It was a pretty good cover, I think." Kaoru said as they proceeded with their project. Izumi started burning the doll.

"That is so awesome, nee-san! I wonder what I'll get." She said excitedly.

"I don't think you will." He said teasingly as he prepared to burn an end of her hair but failed.

"What happened?" he asked frustrated.

"Why?" Kaoru asked curious.

"Nothing." He said as he went out to see his mom greeting his dad with a peck on the cheek. His dad suddenly turned to him and gave him a smirk and he gave him one back.

**A/N: Yeah so even if Mikan and Natsume didn't have alices in the story, I decided to make it interesting by letting their children have it. They're so cute! I hope you loved the extras! Hasta la vista!**

**Xoxo,**

**Bubblefizz001**


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